Notice Me, Ruby!
by JustAnotherGuy04
Summary: Tired of being ignored by her team, Ruby decides to dedicate herself into becoming the best Huntress there is. However, her teammates don't like the idea of being ignored themselves, especially a certain blonde. Can they get their youngest teammate back or will they lose her completely? (Eventual non-related Yang/Ruby)
1. A Teammate Abandoned

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 1: A Teammate Abandoned**

It was late in the afternoon at Beacon and one could hear the school's students inside their dorms spending time together. If you were close enough to one of the door's you could hear people talking and laughing together, as the different teams were enjoying their time together. This was very normal for the students of Beacon Academy.

However, this wasn't the case when it came to team RWBY. While most of the team's members were having fun together, this didn't include a certain redheaded team leader, who was alone in her team's dorm, crying. This had unfortunately become quite common for Ruby Rose, the leader of team RWBY.

When it came to Ruby, she had never had any real friends in her entire life. The closest thing to a real friend came from her older sister, Yang Xiao Long, and that was it. While she did have a couple of people that she was on friendly terms with, the scythe-wielder had never been an actual friend. No one ever really talked with her or invited her into any activities. Thanks to Ruby's shy personality and weird interests, such as her obsession with weapons, the young team leader was someone that other kids her age often avoided and gave weird looks. In fact, Ruby had been so unpopular that she became the perfect target for bullies. Had it not been for Yang to protect her, the redhead doesn't know what would have happened to her in the end.

Once Ruby had entered Beacon, she thought that things would change for her. While at first she had been skeptical about the idea of her making actual friends, those thoughts soon changed after team RWBY had been formed. Even if she did have a bit of a bad start with Weiss, the new team leader believed that she could finally get something that others had, real friends. And at first, it really seemed to be going like that. Not only had Ruby become friends with her teammates, Weiss and Blake, but she had made some other friends as well. These included team JNPR's members, Velvet and her team, along with Sun and Neptune. It seemed like she had finally made friends with other people.

Unfortunately for the young sniper, her hope of making friends was eventually crushed.

Some time ago, Ruby's teammates stopped spending time with her, deciding to go hang out with each other instead. At first, the redhead didn't mind it all that much. She was mature enough to understand that her teammates didn't want to spend all their time with her, and that her young age prevented her from taking part in activities the older girl liked to take part in from time to time. However, when Ruby started to only spend time with her teammates during classes and schoolwork, it became a problem. The young team leader felt completely alienated by her teammates, like she didn't belong with them at all. It actually got so bad that Ruby wondered when was the last time she even had a proper conversation with one of the older girls.

While the three older girls of the team listened to their leaders orders during assignments and combat practice, Ruby couldn't help but feel that they didn't really respect her as their leader. It felt more like the three girls were doing all of it out of obligation and not because they truly appreciated their youngest members work. In all honesty, Ruby wasn't sure if she could really consider herself even part of team RWBY anymore.

Upon being practically abandoned by her teammates, Ruby soon found out that she didn't even really have any actual friends even outside her team. Even if Velvet and her team were nice to her, she very rarely spoke to them, as they were often busy with their own work. Sun and Neptune were even less of friends to her, as they only ever seemed to bother interacting with her when Blake or Weiss were around. The lonely team leader wasn't of any interest to them at all. The only people Ruby could consider her real friends were the members of team JNPR, but even they didn't really spend any time with her. The other team was often spending time with the sniper's teammates on activities she wasn't invited into. There was also the fact that Ruby couldn't really bring herself to bother the members of JNPR too much, as she didn't want to become a nuisance to them. She was sure that they liked to spend time among their members as well, which was something she was certainly not welcome to join.

Every time Ruby would try to bring up these worries of her to her teammates, she would get completely ignored. The older girls would just tell her ''not to worry about such things'' and that they would talk later. The only problem was that later never came. The redhead might have as well been invisible to them.

Day after day, Ruby would spend practically no time with her teammates. No matter how many times she suggested activities they could all take part in as a team, her suggestions would get rejected and put on ''maybe later.'' The scythe-wielder had lost count of how many lonely nights she had spent all alone in her team's dorm, wondering if things would ever change for the better.

However, it was not too long ago that Ruby had finally learned what her teammates truly thought about her. One day, she had been walking down the halls of the school, when she suddenly heard her teammates talking among each other. The redhead decided to hide nearby and listen to the conversation, hoping to learn something about why the older girls seemed to want to avoid her. She even took out her Scroll to record the whole thing just in case.

* * *

_''Hey, do you guys want to go to this new club that was opened recently?'' Yang asked her two teammates with excitement in her voice. ''I heard that they've got the best drinks there! Not to mention, a pretty famous DJ will be performing there!''_

_''Sounds fun. Count me in,'' Blake replied with a smile._

_''Same here. Just don't let Ruby know about this. The last thing I need is to hear her childish whining again,'' Weiss said in an irritated voice. ''Ugh... Do you guys remember what she actually suggested for us to do last time? She wanted us to play video games and board games with her! What kind of a way is that to spend the night, when the whole city is out there with all sorts of possibilities?''_

_''You think that's bad? Try growing up with her,'' the blonde girl said with irritation in her voice as well. ''I can remember how she tried to drag me with her to all sorts of dumb things. Honestly, she can be such a brat sometimes.''_

_''I will never understand how you manage to keep calm around her,'' the raven-haired girl said with sympathy towards her partner. ''I haven't known her all that long, but even now I can tell that she is someone who will annoy you to no end.''_

_''Hey, at least you're not her partner. Unlike you two, I have to be practically glued to her in our assignments for school,'' the white-haired girl complained. ''Sometimes I wonder what Professor Ozpin was thinking, when he decided to accept Ruby here early.''_

_''Tell me about it. I mean, she is skilled and all, but she shouldn't have come here early,'' Yang said. ''I might care about her a lot, but Ruby is honestly a big brat most of the time. She should have been left to grow up a bit before accepting her here. And to think that she was actually chosen as our team leader.''_

_''Yeah, it's too big of a responsibility for her.''_

_''Someone else should have been made the leader.''_

_''Can't do anything about it now. I guess we just have to wait until the professors see just how unfit she is for the role.''_

_The three girl then walked away, never noticing the young team leader crying behind the corner nearby._

* * *

It had been about two days since Ruby heard her teammates badmouth her. During that time, she had actually listened to her recording a couple of times, just to make absolutely sure that she had heard them right. And every time she did this, she would end up in tears.

Having heard such words come from her teammates' mouths, the redhead now knew that she truly had no friends. No matter what she did, it would always end up like this with her all alone.

Having cried for long enough, Ruby got off her bed and went to the bathroom. She walked up to the sink and looked at herself in the mirror, seeing just how horrible she really looked. Her hair was a complete mess and her eyes were bloodshot from crying. The young team leader also had bags under her eyes along with tear stains. She had even lost a good amount of weight, as her sadness over her situation had taken away any appetite she could have.

''Is this it?'' Ruby asked herself while staring into the mirror. ''Is this all my life has in store for me? To be hated, despised and alone?''

The scythe-wielder leaned over the sink and gripped it with both hands. She thought back to the days she had been younger. How she would tell everyone with a big smile on her face how she was going to become the best Huntress in the whole world. Eventually, her thoughts brought her to her mother, whom she had made this promise especially.

Ruby suddenly punched the wall with all her might, causing her fist to bleed. Her eyes were now completely different from before. When earlier they were filled with nothing but sadness and grief, they now held a fire of determination behind them. Never before had the redhead had this look in her eyes before.

''If I am to be alone, then so be it! Who needs friends, when all they do is stab you in the back!?'' Ruby declared to herself. ''From now on, I shall fully devote myself to my studies and work to becoming a Huntress! I shall show my teammates and everyone else, just how wrong they are about me! I will become the best Huntress of this school!''

With her mind set, the young team leader went to grab her textbook, fully intent on immersing herself into her studies. Unfortunately, she forgot about her bleeding hand and let out a pained yelp upon trying to grab the book.

''Oh, right. I should probably do something about that first,'' Ruby said to herself as she went to get some medical supplies. ''Why did I even do that? Good thing no one saw it...''

* * *

**Author's notes: This story is a bit special for me, as I have wanted to start this for a long time now. In fact, even before I started posting anything on this site, I had actually been writing this a bit. But now I have finally decided to actually start this story and rewrite it from the start.**

**This story might be a bit of an odd one, as it will be a mix of both drama and humor. While I know that we haven't exactly seen anything humorous just yet, there will be comedic stuff soon. I guess I kind of want this to be both of those things, so I can't help but mix the two genres together.**

**Also, some of may notice that this story is similar to ''Red And Pink'' by jin0uga. The thing is that this story was heavily inspired by that story. The biggest difference being that I want to take things more towards comedy. If you haven't checked out the story by jin0uga, I recommend doing it. It's pretty good.**

**Please tell me if you're interested in seeing more. I really hope you guys will enjoy this.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	2. Unwanted Change

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 2: Unwanted Change**

It had been about two weeks since Ruby had decided to focus on her studies and to not try to be friends with her team. During that time, Yang had noticed a change in the younger girl that she wasn't certain if she liked. For some time now, the blonde had gotten used to being asked by the redhead to hang out together. Whether it was to play video games or something else, Ruby would almost on a daily basis be asking for her teammates to spend time with her, especially when it came to Yang. It was such a common thing for her that she was pretty much expecting it every day.

However, all of that had suddenly stopped completely. Neither Yang, Weiss or Blake were being asked to spend any time with their team leader at all. Ruby didn't even have games placed around the dorm in a silent way of asking her teammates to play with her. The scythe-wielder was making absolutely no effort in even getting the attention of her team anymore.

While some people would assume that Yang would like this type of change, the truth was actually very different. Even though at first the brawler had not considered a big deal, she had still been somewhat disturbed by it. It was like there was this small voice in the back of her head, telling her that this was wrong. That same feeling only got stronger as time went on and Yang noticed that Ruby's attempts at ignoring her teammates went much further than just not asking for their attention. It had gotten to the point where none of the older girls of the team even talked with their youngest member. Other than the typical ''good morning'' and ''goodnight'', Ruby didn't really talk with her team at all. She had become so silent that Yang sometimes didn't even notice that she was nearby. At this rate, even Blake would be left second in terms of stealth skills.

In the end, Yang didn't like this change in Ruby at all. The two of them had always been so close that it felt alien to her not having the younger girl acting the way she used to. The blonde thought about how they used to be, back when they were younger. Back then, the two girls were practically inseparable, as they were each other's best friend. While Yang did have plenty of friends, none of them were as precious to her as Ruby. The younger girl was someone the brawler could always count on to be there for her, and now it felt like that was gone.

Even though it hadn't been all that long since Ruby started acting the way she did, Yang already missed the old Ruby. The one she had known since they had been little kids. And right now, the blonde wanted that Ruby back.

Yang had been laying on her bed, trying to read a new comic book she had bought online, when these thoughts came to her. No matter how hard she tried, the blonde couldn't focus on the adventures of the superheroes on the pages, as her mind drifted to Ruby and the way she was acting. It was clear to her that she needed to do something about it and fast or she would lose her mind.

Weiss and Blake were also in the dorm with Yang. The heiress was sitting at her desk, looking over her notes of the day's lessons, while Blake was sitting on her bed, reading one of her numerous smut books. The brawler decided to ask her two teammates for their opinion on Ruby's recent actions, as she felt that they could possibly help her in getting their team leader back to normal.

''Hey, guys, do you think something's different with Ruby?'' Yang asked her two teammates, who turned to look at her. ''For some time now, I can't help but feel like she has changed. It's like she's a completely different person.''

''Now that you mention it, I've been feeling like that for some time now,'' Blake said in agreement with her partner. ''She used to be a lot more energetic, yet now I hardly even notice if she is around because she's so quiet. It's like she doesn't care about the world around her and has decided to simply ignore everything. It's honestly a bit sad.''

''I'm sure it's nothing serious,'' Weiss stated, not all too worried over her partner. ''I mean, don't get me wrong, it is a bit disheartening how she doesn't seem to care about us, but we have to remember that Ruby is still a child. She is probably growing up and finding new things in life. I'm sure if we leave her be, everything will be fine.''

''I don't think we can just expect things to turn out well all on their own this time, Weiss,'' Yang said with a frown and jumped down from her bed. ''This doesn't feel like it's just some phase that Rubes is going through. I honestly think that something has caused her to change, which in turn has caused her to start ignoring us, her team. I don't know what happened or why she's acting like this, but I do know one thing. I don't like this at all and something should be done. I want our old Ruby back.''

''I agree,'' Blake said with a nod. ''Ruby's behavior is definitely different from her usual self and I don't like it. If we leave things the way they are right now, I'm sure we will end up regretting it. There's a good chance things will only get worse with her. And much like Yang, I also want the old Ruby back.''

The brawler smiled at her partner, happy that the cat faunus was not only agreeing with her, but seemed to be willing to help her. Yang turned to look at her other teammate and waited for her response on the situation. Weiss sat still, until she let out a deep sigh.

''Alright, I'll agree with you two. I also want to have Ruby back to her old self,'' the heiress admitted. ''It is... weird not having her loud and energetic attitude around. It honestly feels like some of the life in this dorm has been lost.''

''Oh, Weiss! I knew you actually-!'' Yang exclaimed happily and attempted to go and hug her shorter teammate, only to receive an open palm strike to the face.

''Don't you even dare, Xiao Long,'' Weiss growled at her teammate. ''Besides, while I do want to have Ruby back to her usual self, I still think you two are overreacting. There's a big chance that we will only make things worse by getting too involved. If you want my help, I'll first need to have proof that we really need to do something, okay?''

''Meanie... You didn't need to do that,'' the blonde whined while rubbing her sore face. ''But I'm still happy to see that you guys agree with me on this. Any suggestions on what we should do first?''

''How about you simply wait for her to come back, so you can have a talk with her?'' Blake suggested. ''You two have always been close, so I would think that Ruby would be willing to listen to you.''

''Of course! Why didn't think of that before!?'' Yang exclaimed happily. ''As soon as Ruby gets here, I'm going to sit her down and talk with her! Can't be too hard, right?''

With her mind set, the brawler waited for her youngest teammate to return to their dorm. She was so anxious that she went to sit on her bed and simply stared at the door without blinking, hoping to see Ruby walk in at any second.

However, Yang couldn't have expected how long she would have to wait. After waiting for one hour, the smile from her face disappeared. After two hours, the blonde got off from her bed again and started to pace around the room nervously. And after three hours had passed, Yang began to tap her foot on the floor out of frustration and her face was twisted in an angry scowl.

''Yang, would you mind and stop that tapping?'' Weiss asked, angered by the brawler's behavior. ''Some of us would like to have some peace and quiet.''

''Well, what do you expect me to do in this situation!?'' Yang practically yelled at the heiress. ''Do you know how much I'm stressing out over here!? Ruby should have been here hours ago, but she isn't here! How do you expect me to remain calm in this situation!?''

''Can't you just call her?'' Blake asked, equally tired of her partner's antics as Weiss was. ''There has been technology developed for the purpose of communicating with people that are far away for a purpose, after all.''

Yang's eyes went wide with realization and she quickly pulled out her Scroll, hoping to be able to contact the missing redhead. She quickly selected Ruby's name and waited for the call to be answered. The blonde stood completely still, as she held her Scroll up to her ear and waited for Ruby to answer.

However, the call wasn't answered. Instead, all Yang got was a voice telling her to leave a message. The brawler's eyes started to switch between purple and red as her the stress started to get to her.

''SHE DIDN'T ANSWER!'' Yang roared in anger. ''Why wouldn't she answer!? Doesn't she have any idea how worried I am!? Who does she think she is to ignore ME!?''

''Yang, seriously, calm down!'' Weiss yelled, except this time she wasn't angry. Right now, she was actually scared from seeing her teammate act the way she did. ''I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation for this! You just need to calm down first!''

''Yeah! Besides, there are other ways to contact Ruby!'' Blake added, just as scared as the heiress was. ''You can send her a text and ask her to call you, once she is able to!''

The blonde's anger seemed to calm down at least a bit, as her eyes switched back to purple and her body relaxed. However, you could tell that she was obviously still agitated, since she still had a frown on her face and she was gritting her teeth. Despite that, Yang sent Ruby a text, where she asked the younger girl to call her as soon as possible.

With the message sent, the three older members of team RWBY decided to wait for their team leader to contact them. Unfortunately, when no call or text came from Ruby, Yang's anger began to rise again. The blonde started to send more texts and attempted to call the younger girl over and over again, but no response came. And with each failed attempt at contacting Ruby, Yang started to get angrier and angrier.

Weiss and Blake had been watching the whole time as their teammate's mood got worse and worse with each failed attempt at reaching Ruby. The two girls were actually hiding under Blake's bed at this point, since they were afraid of what Yang might end up doing. The blonde was famous for her very violent and destructive behavior upon being angered, so their fear was understandable.

''If Ruby doesn't call Yang soon, I fear what might happen to us,'' Blake whispered to her white-haired teammate. ''I have never seen her this angry before. And I saw her get VERY angry after a couple of Grimm cut her hair accidentally. This is obviously far worse.''

''I agree with you. This is terrifying,'' Weiss replied. ''I fear that Yang might tear down this whole room, unless Ruby contacts her.''

Suddenly, as if God had decided to answer the monochrome duo's prayers, Yang's Scroll began ringing. The brawler immediately answered the call, hoping that it was Ruby.

''RUBY, IS THAT YOU!?'' Yang yelled.

_''Yang? Is something wrong?''_ the redhead on the other end answered, a bit taken aback by the older girl's yelling. _''I just looked at my Scroll and saw that you had left over a dozen messages and tried to call me several times. What is going on over there? Is the dorm on fire or something?''_

''Oh, you wish that was the case,'' the blonde growled, angry that the younger girl was so calm when she herself had been so worried. ''Do you have any idea what you've put me through over here!? I've been waiting for you for hours! What sort of an excuse do you have for coming back so late!?''

_''To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised you've been in the dorm all this time. I was certain you would have gone to Vale with Weiss and Blake,''_ Ruby said. _''Besides, why did you feel the need to wait for me at all? Or better yet, why was I supposed to be there at the dorm? I don't remember making any plans with you.''_

The surface of Yang's Scroll began to crack as the brawler's grip tightened on it. Her anger was rising even more as the younger girl apparently didn't feel any shame for making her worry so much.'

''Don't you take that tone with me, young lady!'' Yang yelled. ''As a team, we are supposed to be working together, even when we aren't in class! Or at the very least, we should be able to contact each other! What were you thinking when you decided to cut off all communications with your team!?''

_''...I was in the library, Yang,''_ Ruby answered in a deadpan tone. _''What is the one thing people don't want in there? Noise. So it wouldn't have been a good idea to leave my Scroll on, right? Besides, what even could have happened during that time? You're acting like I've committed some sort of a horrible crime.''_

''NOW YOU LISTEN TO ME, RUBY ROSE! WHEN YOU GET HERE, I WILL-''

_''Yeah, yeah, save it for later. I'm on my way there, so you can say what you need to say to me in person. No need to waste the energy on our Scrolls.''_

Before Yang could say anything more, Ruby cut off the call. The blonde couldn't believe what had just happened. The redhead had always been so kind and listened to every word she said. For Ruby to act like this was something she couldn't believe was happening.

''Ummm... Yang?'' Blake called out to her partner carefully, still afraid of what could happen. ''Is everything alright?''

Yang turned to look at her partner. The cat faunus was shocked to see the haunted look on the brawler's face, as her eyes were wide and her face was pale.

''Look at me,'' Yang said. ''Do I look like everything's alright?''

Just as Blake was about to answer, the dorm's door opened with Ruby walking in. There were a couple of rose petals floating down around her, which meant that she had used her Semblance to get there faster. This was most likely because she knew how bad Yang could get when she was agitated, so the redhead had decided to speed things up a bit.

As soon as Ruby walked in, Yang's face turned took an expression of anger and she stomped her way to the younger girl. She was going to grill Ruby for the way she had spoken to her earlier.

''Ruby, mind explaining what you've been up to!?'' Yang asked angrily and crossed her arms. ''I demand to know where you get the idea that you can just ignore your team and-''

''SHUT UP, YANG!'' Ruby screamed at the older girl, shutting her up. The redhead was tired and was not in the mood for the blonde's complains, especially when they were completely stupid. The older girls in the room could only stare at their leader in shock, as she unleashed some of her frustrations on them. ''I have already told you everything you need to know! You want to know where I've been the entire day? I was studying in the library! You want to know why I didn't answer your calls? Because the library is supposed to be silent and people shouldn't make noise, so I had my Scroll turned off! Now, could you tell me WHAT IS THE PROBLEM!?''

''I... I just...'' Yang struggled to speak up, as she was still in shock from the scythe-wielder's outburst. ''I just wanted to talk with you. There's something I need to discuss with you and I was waiting for you to come back. When you didn't come back when you usually do, I started to get worried. I didn't know what had happened, and my fears only got worse when you wouldn't answer me. And I... guess I didn't really believe you, when you said you had been in the library.''

''Well, I was. There was nothing for you to worry. End of story,'' Ruby stated, still very angry. ''While I'm willing to admit that you should be able to reach me if something happens, you can't expect me to be ready to answer whatever calls you make on a whim, okay?''

''Were you really in the library, Ruby?'' Weiss asked, her voice showing how little she believed her partner's words. ''Don't take this wrong, but that's not very believable. After all, you always try to slip out of our study sessions, so it's hard for me to believe that-''

The rest of the heiress' words died in her throat as Ruby turned her attention to her. The glare the redhead was giving her partner made Weiss feel like a small, helpless child. The white-haired girl began to tremble, as Ruby walked up to her and stared at her straight in the eyes with the angriest look Weiss had ever seen.

''Yes. I. Was. I was studying in the library. Got it?'' the young team leader said while gritting her teeth from anger. ''If you want proof, you can go ask team JNPR or Velvet. If they're not trustworthy enough for you, you can also talk to the librarian or Professor Goodwitch. All of those people have seen me studying in the library at different times, so I think I have enough proof for my case.''

''But... But why would you spend the entire day studying?'' Yang asked in disbelief. ''This isn't how you normally are. You usually would avoid studying and instead go have fun. Why would you change like this?''

''Because change is necessary,'' Ruby answered. ''I finally realized what I need to do in order to achieve my dreams and I decided to dedicate myself to my studies. The immature girl that I used to be is now gone, so get used to that.''

The redhead was about to head to the bathroom, but turned towards Blake before going. The cat faunus felt herself shrink under the glare her team leader was giving her.

''Do YOU have any complaints regarding my behavior?'' Ruby asked with a hint of anger behind her voice, which caused Blake to tremble a bit in fear. ''Since our other teammates felt the need to complain and doubt me, I wouldn't be surprised if you felt the need for that as well.''

''No! I have no complaints at all!'' the raven-haired girl quickly answered, afraid of what might happen otherwise.

''Good. Now, I'm going to have a quick shower, then I'm going to be bed. I've had a long day of studying and I want to rest,'' the young team leader explained as she made her way to the bathroom. Before she walked in, she turned to look at her team for one more time. ''Do NOT disturb me.''

The older girls of team RWBY stayed silent as their leader took a shower and afterwards went to her bed. It didn't take long until Ruby's soft snores could be heard, telling them that she was asleep. With their team leader now sleeping, the three older girls quietly sneaked outside the dorm to have a meeting among themselves.

''Any idea what that was about?'' Weiss asked her teammates. ''I never thought that Ruby was even capable of acting that way!''

''No. This is definitely new to me,'' Yang answered. ''All of this is so unlike her! Studying all day in the library, acting so coldly towards us and even getting angry like that. I have never seen anything like this from her.''

''There's also one thing that bothers me,'' Blake added. ''She said something about realizing what she needed to do in order to achieve her dreams. What does she mean by that?''

''Well, Ruby has always dreamed of becoming a Huntress, which is essentially the same as becoming a hero in her mind,'' Yang said. ''I guess she means that she is going to dedicate herself to her studies in order to become that. I'm not sure how I feel about that.''

''Wouldn't that be a good thing?'' Weiss asked. ''I mean, we did come to this school in order to become Huntresses, after all. If Ruby decides to put more work towards achieving that, isn't it for the best?''

''Working harder is one thing, but getting obsessed with your work is not all that good!'' Yang said. ''Ruby was already doing well enough in her studies, so I see no need for her to drop everything else in her life! Doing nothing but working is not healthy for anybody! You need to have fun as well!''

''I agree with Yang,'' Blake added. ''You know what they say about all work and no play, right? At this rate, we can only fear what might happen to Ruby. She might even become a new Weiss.''

''How is that a bad thing!?'' Weiss asked angrily, only to have her mouth covered by her teammates' hands, who shushed her.

''Idiot! Do you want Ruby to get more pissed at us!?'' Yang whispered angrily at the heiress, who was red from anger. ''And it is a bad thing for Ruby to continue down this road. If this goes on, her already horrible social skills will only get worse! Can you imagine what that will be like for her in the future?''

''Alright, I get it. You're right and we need to do something,'' Weiss said. ''While she may annoy me every now and then, she is still my partner and I need to help her when it's needed.''

''I'll help you out as well,'' Blake added. ''Ever since Ruby started acting like this, our team hasn't been the same. I want our team to be like it used to be.''

Yang was very glad to have the support of her two teammates. She knew that if she had their assistance, they would be able to find out what was up with Ruby.

''Thanks guys. I really appreciate this,'' the blonde said. ''We should probably start by first simply observing her and trying to get her to spend time with us. Maybe if we look close enough, we can find out what is up with her.''

With their plan set, the three girls decided to go to bed. As Yang was about to fall asleep, she made one last promise to get back the Ruby she knew.

Little did the three girls know that they were the ones behind their leader's change, and the fact that they would be facing the toughest challenge of their lives.

* * *

**Author's notes: First of all, thank you all for the great support you've given this story! I was amazed by how many favorites this story had gotten in less than a day. For that, I am very grateful.**

**However, there were some things that some of you pointed out that I feel need to be addressed. One of them was how people were worried about this story being a mix of both comedy and drama. I understand this worry, as it's one of the reasons it took me this long to get this story started. In all honesty, this is kind of an experiment for me, as I try to mix these two things together. The best way I can describe this story would be saying it's like ''My Bedbuddy!'', except with a darker beginning. If you're familiar with that story, then you can probably expect what kind of tings will be happening in this one.**

**The second thing people pointed out was the way the WBY were acting. The reason they were acting the way they were in chapter one was to give Ruby something that would motivate her to distance herself from her team. Something that would stick with her and serve as a ''breaking point'' of sorts that would drive her to do the things she does. It's also there for the sake of a bigger plot point in the future, which I'm unfortunately not able to talk about more. Not to mention, people do say horrible things about others they care about, when they think those people can't hear them. They just need to be in a bad mood and think the people they're talking about are not nearby and they let out whatever problems they have hidden outside.**

**If you have any questions regarding this story, please contact me. I would be happy to answer them, as this is a story I have wanted to write for a long time.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	3. Not Our Ruby?

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 3: Not Our Ruby?**

It had been a couple of days since the three older girls of team RWBY had decided to try and find out what was going on with their leader. During that time, the trio had made no progress at finding out what was wrong with Ruby, despite their best efforts. Their plan was rather simple, as they were going to stick close to the younger girl and observe her in the hopes of finding something out. The three girls were also trying to get Ruby to spend more time with them by trying to start conversations with her and inviting her into different activities. However, none of this had worked so far.

The way Ruby saw it was that her teammates were trying to get on her good side for the accusations they threw at her and not for the sake of actually spending time with her. Once she gave in, things would just go back the way they used to be. In the redhead's mind, she might as well skip the pointless time spent with her team and focus on her studies instead.

However, since the WBY were oblivious to Ruby's reasons, they were completely shocked that the young leader declined all of their offers. As far as they knew, Ruby was always willing and happy to spend time with her teammates and friends. This sort of a change was something they had never expected and only made them worry about their leader even more.

The three older girls' attempts at getting the attention of their leader ranged from simply asking Ruby to spend time with them to downright begging her, but much to their disappointment, the redhead kept denying their requests. It seemed like they could offer nothing to get their youngest teammate to spend time with them.

Since simply asking or begging wasn't working, Yang decided that they would need to be more clever on their approach. For this, she had come up with a plan to finally get Ruby to spend some time with them.

Ruby and Weiss were walking down the hallways of Beacon with the older girl leading the younger one. The two partners were heading towards the library, since Weiss had invited Ruby for an important study session with her.

"You know, I'm very happy that you decided to join me on this study session, Ruby," the heiress said while leading her partner. "Before you tried everything you could to skip them, but now you agreed without any whining or protesting. It shows just how much you have grown."

"I decided that it's for the best. There's still a lot of work ahead of me, so I was going to go to the library anyways," the young team leader replied. "Besides, this gives me a chance to sort of learn through the famous "Schnee tutoring" that you have always boasted about. I might learn some things I normally wouldn't."

Weiss let out a nervous chuckle at the mention of her tutoring. While it was true that she had been taught from an early age by a lot of expensive teachers, they still paled in comparison to the level of teachers in Beacon. In all honesty, the white-haired girl had quickly realized upon starting her studies at Beacon that her overall skills weren't all that great, and that she still had a long way to go. Even if she did know a few things more than the average student, her knowledge wasn't as massive as she had thought. If Weiss was being perfectly honest, her tutors before Beacon only had a big price on them and nothing more.

It was a good thing for those hired teachers that the heiress' parents weren't all that aware of what kind of teaching a Huntress truly needed or else they could have gone to jail for their scams.

The two girls made their way to the library and walked inside. Weiss led her partner to a more secluded area, where they could study in peace. Only the thing was that there wasn't any study session planned at all. Instead what awaited Ruby was a table with Yang and Blake sitting at, and Remnant The Game placed on it, ready for use.

"What's this?" Ruby asked with a small frown, already getting irritated by her teammates' actions. "I thought we were supposed to come here to study. Why is there are a board game on the table?"

"Oh, no big reason. We just thought that you might want to join us on- HEY, WAIT!" Yang began to explain, only to notice much to her shock that the redhead turned around and began to walk away. "Rubes, where are you going!?"

"Somewhere else where I can study," Ruby answered as she kept walking. "The library seems to be a bit too occupied."

The young team leader's leave was suddenly stopped when something pulled on her cloak. She looked behind her and saw Yang holding her cloak and giving her the "sad puppy eyes."

"Don't leave, Ruby. This is much more fun with four players," the blonde begged. "Besides, you like this game, don't you?"

"That might be true, but I have work to do," Ruby answered with not even a hint of pity. "I still need to go over my notes for today, do some maintenance on my weapon, get started on the essay for Port-"

"That essay isn't due for weeks, Rubes! There's no need to get started on it already!"

Blake and Weiss looked at each other with wide eyes. Not even the heiress had been this much of a workaholic as their team leader was being.

"Just because the deadline isn't close, doesn't mean that I shouldn't begin working on it!" Ruby yelled in a frustrated voice. "If I let my work pile up on me, I won't get it all done in time! I need to get an early start, so I can get all of my work done on time!"

"But you need to have fun too, Rubes!" Yang continued to whine. "Come on. Just one game. Please?"

"My answer is still no and I'll be taking my leave now. Goodbye," the redhead replied before disappearing with the use of her Semblance, leaving only a couple of rose petals on the floor.

With Ruby now gone, Yang's shoulders slumped down and she walked back to the table and sat down. Once she was seated, she banged her head on the table, feeling very down about their recent failure.

"Well, that didn't go as planned," Blake said in a somewhat sad tone. "I guess her favorite game from childhood isn't enough to get her to come back."

"Not to mention, she probably won't believe me anymore, if I ask her to join another study session," Weiss added. "It feels like we took a few steps backwards instead of simply not making any progress."

"ARGH!" Yang growled with frustration as she grabbed her hair. "I don't get it! Rubes and I used to play this game all the time back home! It was one of our favorite things to do together! Now she acts like she never cared about it at all! Just what is up with her!? It's like she's a completely... different... person..."

The brawler's eyes were wide as a thought suddenly came to her mind. With newfound determination, she stood up from her seat and started to head out of the library.

"Yang? Where are you going?" Blake asked, wondering what her partner was up to.

"I just realized something important," Yang answered. "Now, if my fears are correct, we might have a bigger problem on our hands than we thought. Whatever the case is, we need to make sure of something."

The cat faunus simply gave a confused look at Weiss, silently asking if she knew what the blonde was talking about. The heiress simply shrugged, telling her that she didn't have any idea on what was going on either. They still went after Yang, hoping to find out what she had on her mind.

* * *

Sometime later, both Weiss and Blake were sitting in their team's dorm, waiting for Yang to arrive. The blonde had asked them to wait for her, while she went to make some preparations. Neither of the two girls still had any idea as to what their teammate was up to.

"Any idea what Yang might be doing?" Weiss asked. "She seemed pretty serious when she left. It was like she was readying herself for a war or something."

"I have no idea, but I doubt it's anything too serious," Blake answered. "I mean, you know how "extreme" her emotions can be from time to time, especially when it's about Ruby. I'm sure she is just overreacting or something."

Just as the cat faunus had finished speaking, the dorm's door opened and Yang walked in. The brawler had a large tray of freshly baked cookies in her hands, which she carried to Ruby's desk and left there. The other two girls looked at their teammate in confusion, wondering about what she was planning.

"What are those cookies for, Yang?" Blake asked. "Are you going to try bribing Ruby?"

"No. This is for something far more important," the blonde replied. "I think that Ruby-"

Yang suddenly stopped upon hearing something. She quickly ran up to the door and put her ear against it in order to listen to what was going on the other side. The brawler's eyes went wide and she quickly grabbed her teammates' hands and hid in a closet with them. Unfortunately, their hiding spot was quite cramped, forcing the three girls in a very uncomfortable situation.

"What do you think you're doing, Yang!?" Weiss asked angrily. "There's barely enough room for one person, let alone three!"

"Shhh! Quiet!" Yang quickly said to the heiress. "Just be silent and watch."

The blonde slightly opened the closet's door, so that the three girls could see what was going on outside. They watched as Ruby soon entered the room with a large pile of books in her hands. The redhead seemed to be readying herself for a personal study session, since she put her books on her desk and sat down.

However, before Ruby began her studying, she noticed the tray of cookies on the desk. She looked around a bit, as if to see if anyone was still nearby. Since no one was around, the young team leader took one of the sweet treats and bit into it.

What happened next made the WBY go wide-eyed.

Instead of chewing on the baked goodie like most would expect, Ruby actually spat the piece of cookie out of her mouth and into a trash bin next to her desk. She even went so far as to throw the rest of the cookies in the bin as well. With the treats disposed of, the scythe-wielder opened one of her books and began to study.

"Well, that certainly was unexpected," Blake said while staring at her team leader with wide eyes.

"That's an understatement," Weiss added. "I never thought I'd see the day when Ruby of all people would throw away cookies. Is this really the same girl that's been our leader all this time?"

"That's exactly the reason I did this," Yang said with a hint of anger in her voice, as she was now glaring at Ruby. "I guess my fears were correct."

"What are you- Hey!" the heiress cried out, as the blonde suddenly stepped out of the closet, causing the other two girls to fall out.

Hearing the sudden noises behind her, Ruby turned around to see a very angry Yang walking towards her. Seeing the older girl this angry scared her, as she had no idea why the blonde was so upset.

"Uhhh... H-Hi, Yang," the redhead greeted the brawler. "Is something wrong?"

"Don't play games with me, pal," Yang said with an angry growl. "Who are you and what have you done to Ruby?"

Upon hearing the blonde's question, the redhead's expression changed from one of fear into one of pure confusion.

"Yang, I'm right in front of you. What are you- AAAH!" Ruby screamed upon getting grabbed by Yang, who then wrestled her to the floor.

"Wrong answer!" the brawler yelled as she straddled the struggling girl and pulled out a roll of duct tape. She then began tie the younger girl's hands behind her back.

"Yang, what the hell are you doing!?" Weiss asked while the blonde continued to restrain her struggling partner.

"Isn't it obvious!? I'm capturing this damn faker, who is pretending to be Ruby!" Yang answered as she went on to tie the redhead's ankles.

"Faker!? What are you talking about!?" Blake asked, confused by her partner's actions.

"Yeah! Would you mind telling me that as well!?" Ruby yelled, angered by what Yang was doing to her. "I swear, if this is one of your lame pranks, Yang, I'll make you pay for this!"

"You keep your mouth shut, you damn spy!" the blonde shouted at the tied up girl, before turning towards her other two teammates. "I'm telling you that this is NOT Ruby! This has to be some sort of a spy that we sent here by the White Fang or Torchwick!"

"Just what makes you think that's the case!?" Weiss asked, still in shock over what was going on.

"I'm with Weiss here, Yang. Just what is making you think that Ruby is actually a spy of all things?" Blake asked. "I mean, what sort of proof do you even have to support such accusations?"

"Oh, come on! You two cannot be serious!" Yang cried out from frustration with her two teammates. "Do I need to remind you just how much her behavior has changed!? How she's been essentially an entirely different person for weeks!? How she decided not to join us to play one of her favorite board games ever!?"

"Yang, I know you're not exactly the smartest person in the room, but ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?" Ruby yelled with her face red from anger at the older girl.

"I am not kidding and I don't remember giving you the permission to speak!" the brawler yelled at the younger girl. "Now stay quiet, until we want you to talk!"

"While I agree that her behavior has been strange, don't you think you're going a bit too far, Yang?" Weiss asked. "These are some serious accusations, after all."

"Yeah, I kind of see your point, but I'm still a bit on the fence with this whole thing," Blake added. "Do you have some sort of definite proof?"

"I do. You just witnessed it yourselves," the blonde stated in all seriousness.

The monochrome duo's eyes went wide upon realizing what their teammate was talking about. They both knew just how obsessed Ruby was with sugary and sweet treats, with cookies being her favorites. The idea of her not only rejecting her favorite treats, but also throwing them in the trash seemed honestly impossible.

"You know... She has a point," Weiss said, thinking about everything they had seen regarding Ruby's change in behavior.

"I agree," Blake said with a nod. "It seemed so crazy and unbelievable at first, but when you really think about it, it makes perfect sense."

While the three older girls were having their discussion, Ruby was laying on the floor, completely confused over what was going on.

"What are you three talking about?" the redhead asked. "Weiss, Blake, you're not actually agreeing with Yang, are you?"

The only answer Ruby got from her teammates was a stern look, telling her they were serious about this. The scythe-wielder could feel dread wash over her, as she feared what was going to happen next.

"So are you two ready to make her spill the beans on who she really is?" Yang asked her two teammates.

"Absolutely," Weiss answered without hesitation.

"Same here," Blake replied. "What are we going to do now?"

"Just watch for now. I'll ask for your assistance later," the blonde explained as she walked up to her gym bag and pulled something out.

The other girls in the room watched as Yang walked backed to them while holding the object she had taken from her bag. They saw that it was a pair of dirty, used socks, most likely used by the brawler when she was working out. And judging by how Blake covered her nose and took a step backwards, they hadn't been washed for quite some time.

"Yang... What are you doing?" Ruby asked with fear in her voice.

"Now, you are going to answer my questions truthfully or else I'm going to use these, got it? Also, a friendly warning, I haven't washed these for three weeks," Yang explained and then crouched down in front of the tied up girl. "Tell me, who are you and what did you do to Ruby?"

"Yang, I am the real-" Ruby began to answer, but was cut off by the blonde shoving the socks into her mouth. The redhead began to scream and tried to spit out the filthy pieces of clothing, but Yang kept them in with her hand.

"Wrong answer," the brawler growled out.

Meanwhile, the other two members of team RWBY were watching Yang interrogate the younger girl with horrified expressions.

"This is inhumane," Weiss said with wide eyes. "I'm certain this has to break some international laws."

"And you think the White Fang is cruel," Blake said to the heiress.

* * *

Some time later, Ruby's interrogation had progressed in pretty much similar manner. Yang would question the redhead, only to have her say that she was the real Ruby and that she wasn't any kind of a spy. This would then anger the blonde, who would use some method to get the truth out of the "spy" with the help of Weiss and Blake. These methods included things like tickling, spanking, forcing the younger girl to listen to awful pop music and so on. However, Ruby kept telling her teammates that she was the real Ruby, which the older girls didn't unfortunately believe.

"I am getting VERY tired of this," Yang said angrily. "Where. Is. RUBY!?"

"I KEEP TELLING YOU, I'M RIGHT HERE!" Ruby screamed at the older girl.

"You leave me no choice but to use my ultimate weapon," the blonde said and walked away.

The three other girls watched as Yang dug through her schoolbag and eventually pulled out a large glass jar that was filled with something brown. Ruby's eyes widened in horror, as she wondered what this new weapon the brawler had could possibly be.

"Oh God... What is that?" the redhead asked, already fearing the answer.

"Something I snatched from Port's office, while he wasn't around. I was originally planning to use it on Carding, but I think this is a good enough place for it," Yang explained. "Apparently, it's a jar of Grimm poo. Now you better start telling me the truth or THIS goes down YOUR throat."

While the blonde was threatening her prisoner, Weiss and Blake were absolutely terrified over what their teammate was planning.

"Yang, that is way too extreme!" Weiss cried out in horror.

"I don't think anyone deserves that kind of punishment!" Blake pleaded.

"I don't care! Our Ruby is missing and she's our only lead at the moment! I want answers and I'm willing to do anything in order to get them!" Yang yelled at her two teammates before turning her attention back to the terrified redhead. "Now, are you going to tell me what I want to know or are you going to become a Grimm toilet?"

"YANG, I SWEAR THAT I AM THE REAL RUBY! THAT IS THE TRUTH, ALRIGHT!?" Ruby screamed in terror.

"Alright, that does it! You asked for this, so open wide!" the brawler yelled angrily as she prepared to open the jar.

"NO! NOOOO! SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE!"

However, just as Yang was about to open the jar, the door to the dorm was suddenly slammed open. The four girls turned to look who had come in and saw Glynda Goodwitch standing there, looking rather upset.

"Just what in the world is going on here!?" the blonde teacher asked angrily. "We have been getting numerous noise complaints of you for some time now, and when I come here, I hear someone screaming like they're about to be murdered!"

"PROFESSOR GOODWITCH! HELP ME! PLEASE!" Ruby begged the teacher.

"Ms. Rose?" Glynda asked in confusion, finally noticing the redhead's situation. "Why are you tied up? What is happening here?"

"Professor Goodwitch, I can explain," Yang said.

"Oh, I certainly hope you can," the teacher said with a hint of anger in her voice as she glared at the blonde girl. She just knew that the brawler was behind this whole thing. "I hope that you have an explanation as to why your team leader is tied up, looks like she's been tortured and has been screaming for help! Not to mention, I really want to know why YOU have the jar that disappeared from Professor Port's office."

"W-Well, the thing is that we believe this isn't OUR Ruby," Yang began to explain nervously. "You see, we think she's some sort of a spy, who was sent here to infiltrate our school."

"A spy?" Glynda asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just what makes you think that?"

"She has been acting very strangely recently," the blonde answered. "You see, she used to be very energetic and loved to go around having fun, but nowadays she's just focusing on studying all the time. It's like she doesn't want to have any fun at all."

"That is hardly any evidence of Ms. Rose here being a spy of any kind. After all, we are in a school, so you are expected to study," the witch said. "Besides, I think you should follow her example and focus more on your studies yourself. Your grades could certainly use it."

"Oh, come on! Did you really need to bring up MY grades!?" Yang whined. "Besides, her behavior is not our only proof! We just made a test where we confirmed our suspicions of her! I baked some cookies for her to eat, but she threw them in the trash! The real Ruby would never do that!"

"Hang on a second! Are you saying that the reason you think I'm not me is because I didn't like your cookies!?" Ruby asked angrily and got a nod from the older girl. "Did you even taste those things yourself!?"

"Huh? Why would I do that?" Yang asked.

Glynda walked up to the bin where the cookies had been thrown into and picked up one of the treats. The teacher took a bite out of it and she immediately spat it out in disgust.

"Ms. Xiao Long, I think you should taste what you've made," Glynda said.

The three older girls of team RWBY walked up to the bin and also took one of the cookies there. Upon tasting them, the three girls spat the pieces out of their mouths.

"What in the world did you put in these, Yang!?" Weiss asked while trying to get every last piece of the dreadful treat out of her mouth. "These things taste horrible!"

"I might have mixed up salt and sugar on accident," the blonde replied while her body trembled from the horrible taste she had just experienced.

"No wonder Ruby threw these in the trash!" Blake yelled. "Not even a hungry dog would like them!"

"I suppose this proves that Ms. Rose is indeed herself and NOT a spy, doesn't it?" Glynda asked with sarcasm in her voice as she glared at the WBY, clearly displeased with how they had acted. The three girls looked down in shame over realizing what they had just done to their leader.

"AHEM!" Ruby called out, getting everybody to turn their attention to her. "Now that my real identity has been proven, COULD SOMEBODY UNTIE ME ALREADY!?"

* * *

**Author's notes: I am right now VERY nervous over how this chapter is received. While I have been truly happy for the support you all have given this story, it has also made me concerned as I might have given a wrong impression of this story in the first two chapters. However, this is the type of humor I like to write in a lot of my stories, which some of you are probably familiar with, so you can expect more of this type of stuff in the future. If that is not to your tastes and you don't like the direction I am going with this, I understand completely.**

**Please tell me how you feel about the way this story is going. Depending on your response, I'll consider continuing this story. I just wanted to try out this story and see how it works, as I have wanted to write it for a long time.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. On the next chapter, if you people want to see it, we'll see the WBY try to make up for their mistake on this chapter.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	4. Attempted Apologies

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 4: Attempted Apologies**

It had been a few days since team RWBY's "incident". As one would expect, Ruby had not been happy with the treatment she received from her teammates, causing her ignoring of the three older girls to change into fully avoiding them. It honestly became rare for the WBY to even see their team leader, as she seemed to be determined to not interact with her teammates at all. Not only did Ruby sit far away from the WBY during lunch and in class, but she even went as far as to waking up earlier than the rest of her team and returning to the dorm only once the three other girls were asleep.

This caused a huge amount of stress and discomfort to Yang, who was in agony over what was happening between her and Ruby. The fact that she had essentially attacked the younger girl and made very serious accusations towards her caused untold amounts of agony to the blonde. To make matters worse, she remembered how she had long ago promised Ruby's mother, Summer, that she would look after the younger girl and keep her safe. With what she had done, Yang felt like she had betrayed the woman who had been a mother to her, when her own had left her.

However, the brawler was determined to make things right between her and the redhead. She had tried to wake up earlier and staying up late in order to get a chance to talk to Ruby, but these methods had not worked. It was almost like the young team leader somehow knew what the older girl was planning, as she would either wake up even earlier or return to the dorm later, depending on what Yang was planning. The blonde had even tried to somehow corner the younger girl in order to have a talk with her, but this didn't work either. Ruby would always find a way to slip away with the help of her Semblance, leaving behind only a cloud of rose petals.

Despite her failures, Yang wasn't going to give up. There had even been some minor things that strengthened her resolve to solve things between herself and Ruby. One of these things was when one night the blonde had been staying up late, waiting for the scythe-wielder to return to their dorm, only to fall asleep in the chair she had been sitting on. The next morning, Yang woke up to find herself still sitting on her chair, but her body had been covered with a blanket to keep herself warm. After asking Weiss and Blake about it and hearing them say that they had nothing to do with it, the brawler knew that Ruby still cared about them, even after what they had done.

But since her more direct approaches had not worked, Yang had decided to use something that required some scheming instead. Right now, she was hiding behind a corner, waiting for Ruby to walk past her. As she was waiting, she got a call from Blake.

_"Yang, she's coming your way right now,"_ the cat faunus whispered on the other end of the call.

"Okay, I'll be ready for her," the blonde replied.

_"Are you sure you want to do this?"_ Blake asked, somewhat uncertain of her partner's plan. _"I mean, this could very easily backfire, you know?"_

"I don't know what else to do and I'm willing to take the risk," Yang answered. "Besides, it's been too long since I've hugged her."

_"Alright, if that's how you feel."_

The brawler ended the call with her partner just in time to hear footsteps approaching. She pressed herself against the wall and held her breath, hoping that Ruby wouldn't notice her. Yang could feel her heartbeat get faster as the footsteps got closer with each passing second. Soon the person was right in front of her view and the blonde dashed towards the familiar sight of red hair, arms ready to go around her target.

However, Yang only managed to fall face first to the floor, as rose petals fell around her, telling her that Ruby had slipped away once again with her Semblance.

"Wait!" the blonde called out to the redhead, who simply kept running and was soon out of sight again. "Don't go..."

Yang was about to break down into tears, when she heard her partner walk up to her.

"I guess your plan didn't work, huh?" Blake said as she walked up to the brawler.

"No... She's just too fast. Every time I try to get close to her, she just disappears from sight before I can even say anything to her," Yang said as a couple of tears fell from her eyes. "I just want to make things right again. Why can't Ruby see that? I know what we did was wrong, but shouldn't she give us at least a chance?"

"Yang, what we did was pretty severe," the cat faunus explained while helping the other girl stand up. "Not only did we accuse her of a serious crime, we also hurt and humiliated her. We are honestly lucky that the only ones who know what happened are us and Professor Goodwitch. If it had been anymore people, I fear what that might have caused."

"I know, I know! But I just want to... bring things back to how they used to be, you know? How they were before any of this happened."

"I feel the same way as you do, but we have caused some serious damage to that. I think it might be best to leave Ruby alone for a while, so that we don't accidentally make everything worse. We need to give her time to heal from what we did."

"But that's not the only thing that concerns me!" Yang said with a frown. "Even before we did that, Ruby had been distant and cold towards us! What I want to do is bring back the old Ruby, who was full of life and love!"

"Trust me, I feel the same way," Blake said as she put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "However, we shouldn't risk making things even worse by-"

"NO! You don't understand!" the blonde suddenly yelled and pushed the faunus girl's hand away. "Ruby has changed into something that she's not and I want to bring her back to the way she used to be! Neither you or Weiss can understand this as you're so indifferent and don't care-"

***SLAP!***

Yang stood still in silence and held her cheek that had just been slapped by Blake. The cat faunus was glaring at her with the angriest look the brawler had ever seen.

"Don't you ever even dare think that Weiss or myself don't care about Ruby," Blake said angrily. "She is someone very precious for both of us and we feel just like you do about all of this. We have actually tried to talk to Ruby the same way you have, but since she always ran away from us, we decided to let her be alone and calm down from all of this. After that, we would have went to apologize to her and talk about what has been going on. So don't you ever accuse us of being indifferent or not caring about Ruby."

"I'm sorry," Yang apologized as she looked down in shame. "I'm just so worried about all of this and I don't know what to do..."

"Look, I understand your worry, but it's best to take things slowly, okay?" the raven-haired girl said. "You can't just expect to be able to run up to her and make everything alright in a second. You need to give her some space as well."

The blonde nodded and the two girls went back to their dorm. Once they got there, they saw Weiss laying on her bed and studying, and a large tray of freshly baked cookies.

"Any luck with Ruby?" the heiress asked upon seeing her two teammates returning.

"No, I'm afraid," Blake answered and shook her head.

"Hey, Weiss, what's with the cookies?" Yang asked as she stared at the tray of treats. "Did you decide to make yourself a snack or something?"

"Only people like you or Ruby would consider that a snack," Weiss said with a roll of her eyes. "I made those for Ruby, as a means of saying that we are sorry for what we did. Small steps towards a greater goal, as I'd like to call it."

"That's a pretty good idea, Weiss," the blonde said with a smile. "It just needs one more thing and it's perfect."

The white-haired and raven-haired girl watched as Yang took a piece of paper and wrote something on it. She then placed it next to the tray of cookies, allowing the other two girls to see what was written there.

_To Ruby_

_From Yang_

_I'm sorry_

"Now it's perfect," the brawler said with a smile, feeling hopeful about her chances at patching things up with Ruby.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Yang!?" Weiss asked angrily as she got up from her bed. "Who gave you the right to claim my work as your own!?"

"Come on, Weiss! I need this!" Yang whined. "We both know that I was the one most at fault for what we did to Rubes! Out of the three of us, I am the one who needs to apologize to her the most!"

While the two girls were arguing, Blake realized a fatal flaw in her partner's plan.

"Ummm... I don't think you should-" the raven-haired girl tried to say, but her warning was ignored.

"So, since you are going to claim MY work as your own, what do I get in return?" Weiss asked her blonde teammate.

"Guys, seriously, you should listen-"

"I'll be your best friend forever?" Yang suggested.

"Hey, you guys need to hear what I'm-"

"That's not good enough," the heiress said to her teammate's offer. "How about you give me something useful? Like let me use your motorcycle for a week?"

"Are you two even listening to anything that goes around you!? I'm trying to-"

"Alright, fine! You have yourself a deal, princess!" the brawler answered. "Honestly, the things I have to go through for the people I care about..."

"I am visible, aren't I!? I do actually exist, you know!? Would two mind and-"

"Hush, Blake! I think I hear Ruby coming back!" Yang suddenly said and went to lay on her bed.

Seeing as how her teammates refused to listen to her, Blake just let out a frustrated groan and went to sit on her bed to read one of her books. As she did this, she mumbled something about "stupid teammates being deaf and making things worse."

Soon the door to the dorm opened, revealing Ruby on the other side. Once she saw that her teammates were in the room, the redhead frowned and was about to close the door and leave, but Yang managed to stop her from doing so.

"We won't try to do anything this time," the blonde said. "You can come in with no worries."

"I'm just going to take my books and leave," Ruby said as she entered.

"That's okay, but I got something for you. It's on your desk."

The young team leader looked at her desk and saw the tray of cookies. She walked up to the treats and read the note that was left next to the tray, before turning her attention back to Yang.

"Apology accepted," Ruby said while looking at the blonde girl.

Yang's heart swelled with joy over hearing the younger girl finally accept her apology. It seemed like she would finally be able to make some progress with getting things back the way they used to be.

"The cookies on the other hand," Ruby suddenly added before dumping the sweet treats into the trash bin. "They are not."

The three older girls watched as their team leader put the tray back on the desk, gathered her books and finally left. Both Yang and Weiss were wide-eyed, while Blake herself didn't look surprised at all.

"What was that for!?" Weiss screamed angrily after her partner had left. "Does she have any idea how much work I put into those cookies!?"

"That's the problem, Weiss," Blake suddenly said with a sigh. "She didn't know that you were the one who made them."

"What do you mean by that?" Yang asked.

"Remember the last time you made cookies?"

The brawler's eyes went wide as she realized what her partner was talking about. She let out a loud scream out of frustration and anger at herself for making such a big mistake, before jumping down from her bed and walking up to a wall to bang her head against it.

"Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!" Yang yelled while she kept banging her head. "I just made myself look like a complete idiot in front of Ruby and ruined a perfectly good chance to get close to her again! How could this get worse!?"

"You still have to hold your end of the bargain and let me use your motorcycle, remember?" Weiss pointed out.

Yang's scream could be heard everywhere in Beacon.

* * *

**Author's notes: I decided to put up this chapter along with the previous one, as I felt like it would ease some things that might have bothered some of you in the last chapter. I'm still unsure if you guys will like these chapters, but I felt like I should try anyway. Hope you guys did.**

**Anyways, please tell me how you felt about these chapters, as I take your feedback seriously. It is your feedback that decides if this story will continue or not.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	5. Amusement Park

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 5: Amusement Park**

Things had gotten somewhat better after Yang's attempt at using Weiss' cookies to help ease things between herself and Ruby. While the attempt had been less than successful, progress had been made. After seeing how sorry her teammates truly were for what they had done, the redhead had decided to ease up on the way she avoided the three older girls. She was no longer actively trying to avoid her teammates like they were diseased, and she was even willing to sit near them during meals and classes. Ruby also wasn't waking up as early as possible and returning to the dorm only after her teammates were asleep in order to have as little contact with the older girls as possible.

One might think that with the relationships between the members of team RWBY improving this way, the four girls would soon be back the way they used to be. Unfortunately, that assumption was quite wrong, as the WBY would quickly learn. Even if Ruby wasn't actively trying to avoid her teammates, she was still cold and distant towards them and wouldn't spend any time with the older girls outside of schoolwork and combat practice. In other words, the WBY were back to square one.

In order to get back the team leader the three girls loved, the WBY were once again trying their best to get the younger girl to spend time with them. Their attempts had essentially turned into bribing, where they tried to get Ruby to spend time with them through all sorts of offers. These offers ranged from simply free trips to the movies or arcade to the WBY offering free weapon blueprints and Dust. Unfortunately, all of these offers were declined by the redhead, who still felt that once she gave in, things would go back to the way they used to be with her team.

Weiss had even gone so far as to offer her partner half of the Schnee Dust Company, which was obviously a lie, but the white-haired girl was desperate. After she had taken Yang's motorcycle for a ride, she had crashed it into a wall without even getting it out of the garage. The heiress had wanted to try riding a motorcycle for some time now, as the only vehicle she had ever been allowed to even practice with was her grandmother's old tricycle, due to her father thinking that they were so important that it was the duty of others to drive them where they wanted. However, now that she had earned her blonde teammate's wrath by destroying her precious Bumblebee, Weiss needed to do something to pacify Yang. The obvious way to achieve this was to fulfill the brawler's wish of getting Ruby to spend time with them, but that goal proved to be very difficult to achieve. Not only had Ruby seen through Weiss' obvious bluff when it came to the offer of the SDC, she had even stated that handling that much wealth would too much of a hassle for her anyways.

The white-haired girl could only pray that she could find something to end Yang's anger towards herself or she feared that her remaining life would be cut short.

However, right now, Yang was trying her best to persuade Ruby into joining her teammates in going to Vale's amusement park. She was hoping that the news about new rides would get the redheaded girl to spend some quality time with her team, but it seemed like that hope was lost.

"Come on, Rubes! You have to come with us!" the blonde pleaded the younger girl. "Going to amusement parks is always more fun in a group, so we really need you to come along! Can't you at least consider it a bit?"

Ruby let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed her temples. She could feel a headache coming already.

"For the last time, Yang, I already considered it and my answer is no!" the young team leader said sternly. "Besides, if you need a group, then you already have one! You can just go with Weiss and Blake, making it a group of three already! And if that's not enough, I heard that team JNPR is going there as well, so you don't have any real need for more people!"

"But I would like to spend is a day for our team! As in a day for team RWBY! And you can't have RWBY without the R!" Yang argued. "Come on, it won't feel right without you!"

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way," Ruby said indifferently, before turning around and beginning to walk away. "Have fun there."

The redhead barely managed to take three steps, when she felt something pulling on her cloak and holding her back. She looked behind her and saw Yang clutching on her cloak with both hands while laying on the floor.

"Ruby, please," the brawler pleaded while looking up at the younger girl with her best "puppy eyes". "Can't you at least consider it a bit?"

"I already considered it and my answer is no," Ruby said with her anger beginning to rise. "Now let me go, Yang!"

"No! Not until you agree to come with us!" Yang whined.

"You're being childish!"

"I don't care!"

"Dammit, Yang!"

The two girls fought for a moment, with Ruby doing her best to get her cloak out of Yang's grip. However, the blonde was at a disadvantage, as she knew how important the cloak was to the redhead, meaning that she couldn't use all of her strength to hold onto it. If she did, there was a high chance that the fabric would get torn and that would only serve to push the younger girl away even further. The whole mess that had been caused by the spy accusations had just been cleared for the most part, so Yang really didn't want all that to go to waste. She needed to figure out something and fast.

"Alright, Rubes, you leave me no choice!" Yang suddenly said with determination, causing the younger girl to raise an eyebrow. "You are going to come with us to the amusement park or I'm going to tell the whole school embarrassing stories about your childhood!"

The brawler was certain that she had won the argument, as she knew a lot about Ruby thanks to them living together since childhood. However, she was surprised when she didn't see the scythe-wielder panic at all. Instead, she was just giving a blank stare at the older girl.

"You really want to play that game?" Ruby asked. "Alright, if you insist."

"What do you-"

"HEY, EVERYBODY!" the redhead suddenly yelled, catching the attention of everyone around the two girls. "UNTIL YANG XIAO LONG REACHED THE AGE OF 14, SHE USED TO WET-!"

"AAAAAAAHHH! STOP! STOP! DON'T SAY THAT!" Yang screamed and quickly covered Ruby's mouth, hoping to stop her from revealing her embarrassing past. "Okay, you win! You made your point! Don't tell anyone about THAT!"

Ruby smirked upon seeing that she had won. She pulled the older girl's hand away from her face and started to walk back to her team's dorm.

"Good to see that you finally understood not to mess with me," the young team leader said happily. "I'll be studying in the dorm and I hope that I am NOT disturbed. Understood?"

Yang gave a slight nod and started to make her way to where Weiss and Blake were waiting for her. However, before she left, she gave one last glare at Ruby. This wasn't over yet.

* * *

About two hours later, Ruby was sitting at her desk in her team's dorm, trying to study. However, this was proving to be very difficult, as there was a certain someone who had decided to prevent her from having a peaceful study session. The redhead was glaring at her Scroll that was on the desk, waiting for her disturber to make her move again. The device rang and Ruby picked it up. Seeing the familiar name of Yang on the screen, she grit her teeth in an attempt at holding down her rage.

"Yes?" the scythe-wielder answered the call while doing her best to hold back her anger.

_"Rubes, you have to come here!"_ Yang said in an excited voice. _"There are all these cool rides and other fun stuff! They even have this awesome new roller coaster that-"_

"Yang, I already said no and there is nothing that is going to change that," Ruby said sternly. "Now can you stop calling me!? I have barely managed to even start studying thanks to your constant calls!"

The redhead ended the call and put down her Scroll, hoping that she would have heard the last from the older girl's whining. Oh, how wrong she was...

***RING!* *Click!***

"What now, Yang?" Ruby asked with a growl as her anger was beginning to boil.

_"Ruby, there's cotton candy here and other great treats!"_ Yang said, attempting to persuade the younger girl. _"I know how much you love stuff like that, so-"_

"My answer is still no!" ***Click!***

And barely three seconds later...

***RING!* *Click!***

"...WHAT?"

_"Can you hear that, Ruby? It's the new roller coaster! Do you know how much fun-"_

"I don't know and I don't care! Now stop calling me!" ***Click!***

***RING!* *Click!***

"What is it now?"

_"Ruby, you should definitely come join us here,"_ came Weiss voice from the other end of the call. Apparently, Yang had decided to try if her other teammates would have better luck in persuading the younger girl. _"When even I am having a good time, I'm certain that you're missing out on-"_

"No means NO, Weiss!" ***Click!***

***RING!* *Click!***

_"You should really reconsider your choice, Ruby,"_ came Blake's voice this time. _"We have had a great time so far and it would be a shame if you-"_

''I still say NO! And stop calling me!" ***Click!***

***RING!* *Click!***

_"If you come here, I promise to win you a teddy bear at one of the games,"_ Yang offered.

Ruby finally had enough.

"THAT DOES IT!" the redhead practically roared in anger. "I SWEAR THAT IF ANY OF YOU THREE CALL ME ONE MORE GODDAMN TIME, I AM GOING GO TO THE EMERALD FOREST, KILL THREE DEATHSTALKERS, TAKE THEIR STINGERS AND THEN INSERT THEM INTO YOU THREE AS PAINFULLY AS POSSIBLE! STOP CALLING ME AND LET ME STUDY IN PEACE!"

After ending the call, Ruby put her Scroll down and glared at it, as if to dare it to ring one more time. When the Scroll did start ringing again, the scythe-wielder's face turned red from fury and she grabbed the machine, ready to tell whichever of her damn teammates was calling her that she would make her threat come true. However, upon seeing that the caller was Pyrrha, her rage was replaced by confusion.

"Hello?" Ruby answered the call. "Do you need something, Pyrrha?"

_"Hello, Ruby,"_ the amazon greeted her friend happily. _"Your teammates just asked me to call you and ask you to come here and join us at the amusement park. I think they want you to come have fun, like we are having."_

It was a miracle that Ruby's Scroll didn't shatter in her hand.

* * *

Back with the WBY, the three girls were waiting in anticipation for Pyrrha to tell them Ruby's answer to her invitation. They were certain that after calling the younger girl so many times that she would finally give in and come join them.

"I just finished talking with, Ruby," Pyrrha said as she put away her Scroll. "She said that she would come here as soon as possible."

The WBY cheered over their victory. It seemed like they were finally making some progress with getting Ruby back the way she used to be. The three girls started to talk among themselves about all the things they would do, once their team leader arrived.

"However, she asked me to give you guys a message," Pyrrha suddenly added.

The three older girls of team RWBY stopped their celebrations and looked at the amazon, wondering what she was talking about.

"What kind of a message?" Yang asked.

"She asked me to tell you guys that she warned you," Pyrrha answered. "Do you know what she meant by that?"

The WBY's eyes were wide as they heard the "message." They turned to look at each other, wondering about what was going to happen.

"Do you think she was serious?" Blake asked.

"I'm sure she was just exaggerating," Weiss answered, although she didn't sound very convincing.

Suddenly, Yang's Scroll received a message. She took out the device and opened the message, and upon seeing it her face turned pale.

"Guys, I think you need to see this," the blonde said to her two teammates and showed them the message.

Weiss and Blake both turned pale upon seeing the message Yang had gotten. It was a picture of a dead Deathstalker with it's stinger missing. Underneath the picture was a text that said, ''Two more to go."

"I think we need to run," Yang said.

* * *

**Author's notes: First of all, I want to say that I am very happy and relieved to see how well the last two chapters were received. That has given me more enthusiasm to continue this story, along with all the favorites I've been getting. This has truly been great and I can't thank you all enough.**

**When it comes to this chapter, I'm actually quite excited about it. This is probably the first things I thought of for this story and I'm happy to see that it's finally completed. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.**

**In the next chapter, the WBY won't be begging for their leader to spend time with them anymore. Instead, they'll be using a bit more underhanded methods.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	6. Testing Time (Part 1)

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 6: Testing Time (Part 1)**

It had been a few days since the "Deathstalker incident" with team RWBY and things had taken a turn for the worse. While the incident thanks to some miracle hadn't made it's way to the news, it had made it's way to Beacon. Or more specifically, Beacon's staff. To say the least, the professors at the school had not been pleased with what had happened. Since Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to be essentially the heroes of the people, the actions of the four students were seen as very unacceptable. After all, what person would trust protectors, who ran around the middle of the city like maniacs, with one of them carrying parts of Grimm? All four members of the team were given detention for their behavior, along with a stern lecture from Ozpin himself.

However, while the three older girls had expected their lecture to be very harsh and hurtful, it hadn't been all that bad. Ozpin had simply told the three girls that he was very disappointed by their actions and that he wanted them to start bettering their behavior for the sake of their careers as Huntresses. Ruby, on the other hand, was given a private lecture, which was most likely because of her position as her team's leader. Whatever was said to the redhead must have been harsh, as she came back from the office with tears in her eyes. Before any of the three older girls could go and comfort the younger girl, Ruby had given them the most furious glare they had ever seen, before disappearing in a cloud of rose petals.

Since they were worried about what had happened to their team leader, the WBY had gone to ask about what could have possibly happened between her and Ozpin. While Glynda and a lot of the other professors stayed silent, as they believed it was not something they should talk about, Port had decided to tell the three girls what must have happened. It turned out that due to her position as a team leader, Ruby was being held up against a much stricter and higher standard than others. While her teammates might have gotten away with a very simple lecture and some detention, the lecture aimed at the redhead must have broken her heart.

Knowing that they were the ones at fault for what their team leader had gone through, the WBY were wrecked with guilt and they just wanted to apologize and make things right between themselves and Ruby again. Unfortunately, that was very difficult, as the redhead was once again avoiding her teammates. It was just like when they had accused her of being a spy.

With the three girls being unable to really interact with Ruby, they were left with no real good opportunities to patch things up and hopefully get back their old team leader that they loved. They had even tried baking some cookies for Ruby as a means of taking at least a small step towards the right direction, only to find the cookies having been left untouched. Since they couldn't really do anything, the three girls could only give the redhead some space and hope that she would calm down with time.

Now that they weren't actively chasing after Ruby in the hopes of getting her back the way she used to be, the WBY could focus more on their schoolwork. However, only Weiss was excited about this opportunity, as neither Yang or Blake felt like studying at all. Their hearts were still being heavily weighed down by what they had recently put Ruby through.

"Would you two mind and try to liven up a little?" Weiss asked her two teammates as they entered Peach's class. "I know that you're worried over what happened with Ruby, but you shouldn't think about that right now. We are about to get our tests from last week! And I don't know about you two, but I'm excited to see how well I did."

"That doesn't really excite me, ice queen," Yang replied in a grumpy tone. "Despite everything we have done, we have made no progress when it comes to Ruby. How am I supposed to get excited over a piece of paper, while I'm still bothered by what's going on with Rubes?"

"Look, I know that you're worried over her, but you need to focus on other things in life as well!" the heiress said. "You both came to this school to become Huntresses, correct? Because of that, you should also worry about reaching that goal! Our grades here can greatly affect our future careers as Huntresses!"

Weiss suddenly felt her blood run cold, as her two teammates glared at her. They were not pleased with how the white-haired girl didn't seem to be bothered by her partner's situation at all.

"How typical Schnee behavior," Blake said with venom dripping from her voice. "She puts her career above her friend. I guess it was stupid of us to expect anything better from her."

The cat faunus' words struck the heiress' heart. If there was one thing she hated, it was to be reminded of her family's less than perfect reputation.

"Hey now, I'm not saying that I'm not worried over our whole thing with Ruby or anything. What I am saying is that we also have other responsibilities to think of. We especially should think about them now, when we don't have our hands full with worrying about Ruby," Weiss explained.

The two girls seemed to at least somewhat understand their teammate's logic, as they seemed to calm down a bit. However, they were still clearly upset, which honestly worried Weiss. With everything that had happened lately, along with her crashing Yang's motorcycle, she really didn't need to upset her teammates anymore. She hoped that the two girls either calmed down or she figured out a way to ease things up between herself and them. God only knew what Yang would do to the heiress, if she were to anger her any further.

Soon the three girls were sitting in classroom, waiting for Peach to return their tests to them. While the WBY were sitting side by side, their team leader was sitting the opposite side of them. It was clear that Ruby wanted as much distance between herself and her teammates, which was the reason why she chose to sit so far away from the three older girls. It broke Yang's heart to see how much of a gap had formed between herself and Ruby. Had anyone ever told her that the redhead would one day actively try to avoid her, she wouldn't have even considered it possible. Now that impossibility had not only become possible, but an actual reality. The blonde honestly felt like crying the more she thought about how things had changed.

Once all the students in the class were seated, Professor Peach grabbed the tests of her students and stood up in front of the class. The teacher had a bright smile on her face, like something really good had just happened.

"Alright, class, I am sure that you are all very eager to find out how well you performed in our last test, but there is something I want to tell you all," Peach said. "As usual, there were some very good results among you, as well as ones that were not so good. However, there was one student among you, who not only outdid themselves, but the whole class. This one student did something I have seen only very rarely and managed to achieve a perfect score!"

Some of the students began whispering among each other, wondering who this student could possibly be. Beacon was such a tough school that getting a perfect score on any test was practically impossible.

"Wow. A perfect score on the test? Now that's something," Yang said. "I was honestly struggling through that whole thing. Any idea who could have pulled that off?"

"Don't ask me. I doubt I got anywhere near that," Blake answered.

"Isn't it obvious who the most likely ones for such a feat are?" Weiss asked her two teammates with a cocky smirk on her face. "The person who did something like that has to be either me or Pyrrha. There's no way it could be anyone else."

The other two girls frowned at their white-haired teammate, not liking her attitude at all.

"Weiss, would you mind and stop it with the ego?" Blake asked with a frustrated sigh. "Besides, what makes you say that it has to be either you or Pyrrha?"

"Because, unlike you two, I have actually been keeping up with my studies," Weiss answered. "Not to mention, I have natural talent as a scholar, which has helped me pass every test so far with ease. Pyrrha is also an obvious candidate for this, as she didn't become The Champion Of Mistral for nothing. However, I believe that today you will all witness how skillful I truly am."

"Seriously, Weiss, tone down the ego a bit," Yang said, just as frustrated with the heiress as her partner was. "I'm personally willing to bet that it isn't you. I bet you my lunch on it."

"Deal," Weiss said, agreeing to the blonde's bet.

Meanwhile, Professor Peach was watching her students talk among each other with a smile on her face. She had hoped to get her students excited by telling them about this, as it could possibly motivate them to work harder on their studies as well.

"Alright, settle down now," Peach called out to the students, silencing the room. "Now, I'm sure that you are all eager to hear just who this student is."

Weiss was making some last minute fixes on her uniform in order to look as good as possible, causing both Yang and Blake to roll their eyes at her.

"I am proud to say that the student who got a perfect score on the test was none other than Ruby Rose!" the professor declared happily, causing almost all of her students to go wide-eyed. "Ms. Rose could you come down here?"

The rest of the class watched with surprised expressions as the youngest student in the class got up from her seat and calmly made her way to the teacher. However, the ones who were most surprised were the WBY, who couldn't believe what they had just heard. They knew that Ruby was smart, but they would have never expected her to be able to do something like this.

While a lot of people would have expected the redhead to be running to the professor in glee, they were surprised by the fact that Ruby didn't do anything like that. She didn't even have a big grin on her face as she got her paper from Peach.

"That was some great work, Ms. Rose," Peach said with a proud smile. "I sincerely hope that you will keep up this work."

"Thank you, professor," Ruby said with a small bow. "I will work hard to achieve similar results in the future."

The younger team returned to her seat and looked at her test with a small proud smile. Unknown to her, her teammates were staring at her in shock, especially Weiss. The heiress' face was pale and her eyes were as wide as possible with on of them twitching. She couldn't believe that her partner had just beaten her. It was unbelievable.

"Hey, Weiss?" Yang called out to the white-haired girl, getting her attention. "I'll have a big bacon burger with large fries and a soda, along with a good serving of "I told you so". Hope you remember that."

After being reminded of her bet with the blonde girl, Weiss' shock was soon replaced by anger and rage. She was glaring at Ruby, who had no idea of the murderous look her partner was giving her.

* * *

Once the class had ended, the students began to make their way out of the room. While some of the students looked happy and relieved over their test results, others were looked more like the world was going to end. Out of all the students in the class, Ruby was among one of the last ones to leave, as she didn't want to get caught in the mass of students trying to leave the room at the same time. Instead, the redhead was taking her time to put away her supplies and getting ready for the next class.

Seeing that the younger girl wouldn't be leaving soon, her teammates decided to go and talk to her. Yang and Blake wanted to congratulate Ruby on her success and hopefully begin to fix the damaged relationship they had with the scythe-wielder. They were even thinking of asking Ruby to help them assist them in their studies, thus allowing them more opportunities to make things right again.

However, Weiss had a different goal in mind. She wanted to know how Ruby of all people had managed to top everyone else in the class, especially herself. And the white-haired girl wasn't going to be nice about it either. She was willing to do everything she could to get the truth out of her partner, no matter what it took.

Pushing her other two teammates out of the way, Weiss stomped her way over to Ruby, who heard her loud footsteps and looked up at the fuming heiress.

"You! I want an explanation right now!" Weiss yelled at the younger girl while pointing an accusing finger at her. "What did you do!?"

"Excuse me?" Ruby said with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't play dumb with me!" the white-haired girl shouted. By now, some of the students were staring at the two girls, along with Yang and Blake. Even Professor Peach had stopped to observe what was going on between the two teammates. "How did you of all people get a perfect score on the test!?"

"It's called studying, Weiss. Ever heard of it?" the redhead answered sarcastically. "What did you expect I did?"

"Don't lie to me! Before this test, you never even got close to a perfect score! How do you expect me to believe that you suddenly made such a big change!?" Weiss continued to yell angrily. "Honestly, I'm more willing to believe that you cheated, instead of thinking that YOU made such a big effort in your studies to get a perfect score!"

The whole room went completely silent over the heiress' accusation. The idea of someone actually cheating in one of Beacon's tests was honestly ridiculous. Not only would cheating be punished so harshly that most students wouldn't even think of it, the teachers were all veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses. There was no way that they couldn't catch their students attempting to cheat.

Everyone in the room held their breaths as they waited for Ruby to respond. They expected her to cry, to deny the accusation or to get angry and possibly violent. However, no one expected what actually happened.

"Are you done?" Ruby asked in an indifferent voice with a blank expression on her face. It was like she didn't care about being accused of cheating at all.

"What did you just-!?"

"I asked if you were done. As in, are you done with blaming me for your shortcomings?" the redhead explained. "Honestly, I'm not even surprised that you reacted this way. After all, you are in my team, so I know exactly how you act."

"And just what do you mean by that!?" Weiss asked angrily.

"Every time something goes wrong, it's always somebody else's fault," Ruby answered. "The cafeteria didn't have your favorite lunch? The staff are incompetent idiots, who should have prepared better. Team RWBY isn't the top ranking team? The fault is on your teammates. And now, you didn't get the best test result, so either I cheated or there's something wrong with how the tests were graded. In your mind, nobody else is perfect, except yourself. So if something goes wrong, the fault has to be on somebody else."

"How dare you say something like that!?" the heiress yelled, as her face was turning red from anger.

"Because it's the truth. You might want to look into it a bit more," the young team leader said as she started to walk towards the exit. "It might help you."

Enraged by the way she had been talked to, Weiss tried to grab Ruby's shoulder in an attempt at stopping her. However, the heiress was in for a surprise, as the scythe-wielder threw the older girl over her shoulder and slammed her to the floor. Weiss could only groan in pain as her partner stood over her.

"Watch it, princess," Ruby said in such a cold tone that her partner actually shivered. "I might let your insults slide, but touch me again and I'll show you just how skilled I am."

After threatening the white-haired girl, the redhead made her way out of the classroom. The other students actually stepped out of her way, not wanting to get on her bad side.

Weiss was struggling to get up, as the shock from her impact to the floor had left her quite dizzy. She heard someone walk up to her and thought that it was either Blake or Yang coming to help her. Instead, it was Professor Peach, who stared down at the heiress with a look that was a mix of both anger and disappointment.

"You should take Ms. Rose's advice, Ms. Schnee," the teacher said coldly. "I have personally witnessed many people that thought too highly of themselves and all of their fates were less than glorious in the end. It would be in your best interest not to let that happen to you. You should also know that I could put you in detention for making very severe accusations towards Ms. Rose, along with possibly trying to attack her, or at least tell Professor Ozpin about them. However, I feel that it wouldn't do justice to the fact that Ms. Rose did her best not to get into a fight with you. Not to mention, I feel that throw she gave you was more than enough of a punishment."

With her small lecture given, Peach walked away from Weiss and left the classroom, leaving the white-haired girl on the floor. Once the teacher had left, it was the turn for Yang and Blake to walk up to their teammate. Weiss felt her blood run cold upon seeing the glares her two teammates were giving her.

"Since neither Ruby or the professor wanted to deal with you, I guess it falls on us," Yang said while glaring at the heiress with red eyes and cracking her knuckles. "No need to worry, though. We won't be gentle."

Despite Weiss begging for mercy, her two teammates dragged her to a nearby restroom in order to give her their punishment.

* * *

Some time later, Yang and Blake walked out of the restroom after "dealing" with Weiss. Both girls were still upset over what had happened, but had calmed down at least somewhat. It was surprising how much some violent retribution could calm a person's anger.

"As satisfying as that was, it still leaves us with a bit of a problem," Blake said. "Ruby was already very distant to us to begin with, but I fear that Weiss might have made things even harder for us now. What are going to do in order to patch things up between us and Ruby? I doubt she'll be willing to listen to us anymore, no matter what."

"No need to worry. Even if ice queen caused some big time damage that has made things difficult, I've got an idea," Yang replied. "It's a bit mean, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

"...Why do I get the feeling I am not going to like this?"

* * *

**Author's notes: This chapter fell towards a bit more drama, but I promise that I'll be going back to comedy after this. I kind of wrote this chapter in a way that felt right, so it ended up becoming like this. Hope you guys aren't too bothered by it.**

**In my original version for this chapter that I wrote before I started posting stuff here, Weiss' reaction to being bested by Ruby was something that was practically only quickly mentioned. However, I wanted to make it into an actual scene with more of an impact, as I felt that it would have been better. And I might be the only one to think this way, but I personally liked how calmly yet savagely Ruby pretty much ripped a new one to Weiss.**

**When it comes to Ruby getting treated more harshly for what happened in the last chapter, I thought about how the situation could have looked to Ozpin. While he might understand why Ruby got so angered by her teammates, he would most likely think that she should have handled it better as a leader, such as simply turning off her Scroll. The way he sees it, Ruby didn't live up to her position as a leader and put a bad image on his school. Also, things like this do happen in real life. I was personally bullied most of my school life, yet my bullies were very rarely punished at all. Instead, they would have to "apologize" to me while I had to do the same to them. At one point, I was even sent to a camp to help deal with my issues. Life's not fair.**

**Two more things before I end this. First, Weiss will still be around and will have a part in this story, so you don't need to worry about her. And second, people were asking about the relationship between Ruby and Yang. In this story, they are not related at all. Neither Qrow or Taiyang is Ruby's father in this story. I know I haven't gotten into the Yang/Ruby stuff yet, but I plan to do it later.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	7. Testing Time (Part 2)

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 7: Testing Time (Part 2)**

It had been a few days since what happened between Weiss and Ruby over Professor Peach's test. Right now, things were worse for team RWBY than they had ever been, as now two of their members were distancing themselves from the rest of the group. Ruby was obviously one of those two, as she still felt it was necessary to stay away from her team for the sake of her future as a Huntress. The other member was Weiss, who was keeping her distance from her teammates after what had happened in Peach's class. This was most likely done out of fear, as the heiress had turned the rest of her team against her by accusing her partner of cheating.

With half of the team now staying away from their other teammates, things had gotten rather uncomfortable for the whole team. Whenever there was a rare moment where the whole team was in the same place at the same time, the only people who were willing to communicate with each other at all were Yang and Blake, and even they were just whispering to each other. There was also a level of hostility within team RWBY, as not only was Ruby still very displeased at her teammates, but Yang was also openly angry at Weiss. The white-haired girl was lucky that the blonde had decided to show her anger simply through mean looks and insults at this point.

While Blake had somewhat gotten over what Weiss had done, which was helped by the cat faunus and her partner giving their punishment to the heiress, Yang was still more than willing to hold onto her hatred. The blonde felt like they should focus on getting Ruby back and abandon Weiss, as she didn't deserve to be on the team anymore. Blake might not have been as extreme as the brawler, as she still felt that they should give the white-haired girl a possible chance for the sake of the team. Although, she felt that Weiss herself needed to put in the effort and not just expect things to turn well on their own.

For now, Yang and Blake would be focusing their attention on fixing things between themselves and Ruby. Their situation with their team leader was something they truly wanted to fix, and the blonde claimed that she had a plan for it. So far, she had been observing how well Ruby had been doing in her classes and found out that the redhead was at the top of all of them. If she didn't get a perfect score on whatever assignment she was given, Ruby would only be missing one or two points. All the teachers were obviously very happy and proud of their student's progress, but Yang was having mixed feelings. While on one hand she was happy and proud of Ruby doing so well in her studies, the brawler also saw it as a problem. With the scythe-wielder already concentrating all of her attention to her studies, her success was only going to motivate her to keep doing so, which would only push her further away from her team. Not only was Yang worried about losing whatever relationship she still had with Ruby, but she was also worried that this would all be damaging to the redhead's already bad social skills in the long run. In the blonde's mind, something needed to be done.

At the moment, Yang was discussing her plan with Blake in their team's dorm. Both Ruby and Weiss were away, which meant they could talk about it without any worries. However, while the brawler was very confident and optimistic with her idea, the cat faunus couldn't help but be skeptical.

"Yang, would you mind and repeat your plan to me?" Blake asked while sitting on her bed. "I want to make sure I heard you correctly."

"I said that my plan is to sabotage one of Ruby's tests," Yang answered. "The reason why she studies so hard is to get great grades, right? So what if she were to fail despite her studying so hard all the time? I certain Ruby would give up on her studies, allowing us to come in, cheer her up and build back the relationship we used to have! Simple, is it not?"

"I feel you might be making it too simple," the cat faunus said. "Not to mention, don't you think your plan is a little... cruel? After all, Ruby has been putting an insane amount of work on her studies, so doing this could be damaging to her. Not to mention, if we get caught-"

"It's an if and not a certainty. We can get away with it."

"IF we get caught, Ruby is going to be REALLY angry at us. Do you still remember that Deathstalker incident we had with her?" Blake asked and shivered a bit at the memory of getting chased by her livid team leader. "I think I've developed a fear of pointy objects because of it."

"It's a risk that I'm willing to take, Blake. Not to mention, it's for the greater good," the blonde answered. "Thanks to how things have gone between us and Ruby, our team has become fragmented. I don't know about you, but I miss having the old Ruby with us, and I'm ready to whatever it takes to get her back. Also, we are not going to have her actually fail. We're only going to make it so that she barely passes, thus saving her from having to retake the test we'll be sabotaging. It won't affect her grades all that much in the end."

The raven-haired girl thought about her partner's reasoning for a moment. While she still wasn't fully onboard the whole idea, she still agreed that they needed to do something in order to save their team, and getting back the old Ruby was needed for that. They might feel guilty about it for some time, but Blake thought that it might be worth it to save their team. Not to mention, they didn't have any better ideas at the moment.

"Alright, let's say that this plan will work and we're going to go for it. How exactly are we supposed to pull this off?" the cat faunus asked. "I can't really think of a way for us to really sabotage any of Ruby's tests in such a way that we won't get caught."

"No need to worry about that! I already have a plan!" Yang said with a grin. "Remember what Professor Oobleck told us today?"

"You mean how he's been so busy with work that he hasn't been able to grade them yet and most likely won't be able to do so for a while? Yes, I remember that," Blake answered.

"Well, those papers are most likely still sitting in his office, right? And he most likely hasn't gone through them yet," the blonde began to explain. "If we could get our hands on Ruby's paper, we could alter her answers in such a way that she'll lose points! And the professor won't know that there were changes, as he hasn't looked at the answers yet!"

"But won't Ruby know the difference?"

"If she remembers EXACTLY everything she wrote, she might notice something's wrong. But even if she does, she can't prove that someone altered her answers."

Blake thought about Yang's explanation. This plan could actually work, as Ruby wouldn't have any proof that someone actually tampered with her paper. Not to mention, if she were to say that someone did, no one would really believe her. The raven-haired girl just hoped that things wouldn't go too out of hand, as it could hurt the redhead a lot.

However, there was still one thing that needed to be thought about.

"Alright, that's well and everything, but how exactly do we get our hands on Ruby's test?" Blake asked. "It's inside Oobleck's office, so we can't go there during daytime, as we would most likely get caught, and it's locked during night. Not to mention, if Ruby sees us sneaking around in the middle of the night, she is going to get suspicious of us."

"That's where YOU come in!" Yang replied. "Since you used to be part of the White Fang, I'm sure you can get into the office with ease. And with your Semblance, you can just leave a clone here, so Ruby won't suspect a thing!"

"...For the record, I would like you to NOT assume things about me due to my past with the White Fang. I would like to leave that life behind, remember?" the raven-haired girl said with a frustrated sigh. "While it's true that I could possibly get into Oobleck's office, that other part of your plan doesn't really work. Once I get too far from my clone, I can't give it anymore instructions. It pretty much stops dead in it's tracks and remains stiff like a statue. Pretty much anyone could tell that it's not really me. And when I get too far away from it, it becomes harder for me to maintain the clone. One slight slip in my concentration and it disappears completely. Even if I somehow manage to keep it up, there's the risk of Ruby seeing me come back to the dorm while the clone is still around."

"So... You're not willing to do it?" the blonde asked.

"Yang, your plan has more holes in it than Port has boring stories. It wouldn't work," Blake answered. "It's way too risky for us to pull off."

The brawler let out a sigh and sat down on Weiss' bed. She had been so certain that she had gotten the right idea on how to set things right with Ruby, but it seemed like they were back to square one. However, Yang suddenly had another idea.

"Hey, Blake. How about we have someone else do it?" the blonde asked. "That way, we won't risk having Ruby or anyone else get suspicious of us."

"I guess that could work..." the raven-haired girl said thoughtfully. "But who are we supposed to get to do such a job for us? Not only would they risk getting detention if they were caught, but we would also have to worry about them telling the truth of our involvement."

"Hmmm... That's a good point. What we need is someone we can bribe easily. Someone who is brave and crazy enough to do this, but also loyal enough for us to not need to worry about ratting on us," Yang said while thinking about it, before a mischievous grin spread over her face. "I think I have the perfect person for this."

* * *

It didn't take long for Yang and Blake to find the person they were looking for. This individual was honestly perfect for the two girls' plan, as they were willing to do a lot of crazy things just for the fun of it. The only problem would be to find the perfect payment to give them.

"Alright, Nora, do you understand what we need you to do?" Yang asked the ginger. The two girls had just explained to their friend what they needed her to do.

"Sure! You want me to break into Oobleck's office and go mess up Ruby's test!" Nora said answered. "Although, I do have to ask, why do you want me to do this? If it's supposed to be a prank, it doesn't sound all that funny."

"It's for the sake of our team," Blake answered. "Since Ruby is focusing so much on her studies, she has essentially alienated herself from the rest of the team. We are hoping for this to allow us to get closer to her, so we can hopefully fix our relationship with her."

"Okay, I get it that you want Ruby to be closer to you guys again," the ginger said. "But can't you guys just talk to her? I mean, is it really necessary to go through all of this just for the sake of getting her to spend time with you?"

"Do you think we haven't tried that?" Yang asked. "We have tried to talk to her countless of times and even asked her to come with us to all sorts of things! But even if we do get to talk to her, she immediately rejects whatever we are offering! Remember that time she chased us throughout Vale? That pretty much happened because we kept asking her to join us at the amusement park continuously."

"Oh, I remember that, alright!" Nora snickered. "It was pretty hilarious to see her chase after you three with those Deathstalker stingers. I'm surprised no one recorded it or anything. You guys were running through Vale in the middle of the day, after all."

"I doubt it would have been hilarious to you, if you had been in our position, you little-"

"ANYWAYS, are you willing to do what we asked you to do, Nora?" Blake quickly asked, cutting off her partner's angry response. "It's very risky, so we understand if you don't want to do it."

"Sneaking into Oobleck's office? Please, I do WAY crazier stuff just for the heck of it on an almost regular basis," Nora said. "Although, I think we still haven't discussed one important thing."

"And that is?"

"My prize," the hammer-wielder answered. "What do I get from this?"

"The biggest possible plate of pancakes," Yang answered. "Cooked by none other than myself."

If there was one thing that Nora liked, it was pancakes. The ginger was honestly so obsessed with them that she was willing to do almost anything for them. In fact, Ren often made them in order to stop whatever crazy rampage Nora was on.

However, the two girls didn't know that they had actually overestimated the crazed girl's love for pancakes. Only by a little bit, though.

"Oh, please, you're going to have to do better than that," Nora said, surprising both Yang and Blake. "I can easily get Ren to make them for me. Even if asking doesn't work, I just have to do something crazy and he'll be making them in no time! Why do you think I go pulling pranks and other such things so often anyways? It's all for the sake of Ren's pancakes. Not to mention, I heard that you mix salt and sugar with each other, Yang."

Both members of team RWBY were looking at each other with concern on their faces. Their plan required the help of an outsider and Nora was the only candidate that could pull it off. If she wasn't willing to help them, the two girls feared that they didn't have anyone else capable enough for the job.

"How about some high quality pancakes?" a familiar voice called out. The three girls turned around to see Weiss walking towards them. "Back in the Schnee manor, I had a special pancake butler. You can probably guess what his specialty was. With one call, I can get him here to come make you pancakes like you've never tasted before. Pancakes that makes you think gods themselves made them. If you agree to the deal, I'll have him make you as much of those treats as you want."

Yang and Blake looked at each other, wondering why their white-haired teammate had suddenly come to help them. They had been certain that after the whole issue with Peach's test she wouldn't want to even get near any of her teammates for obvious reasons.

"F-For real?" Nora asked as drool was dripping from her mouth at the thought of the sweet treats the heiress had described for her. "You'll let me taste something like that?"

"Of course. That's the deal," Weiss said while being slightly disturbed and disgusted by the ginger's drooling, which had made a small puddle at her feet. "By the way, you might want to wipe your chin a bit."

"Thanks. I got a bit excited," Nora said while wiping away her drool. "But I still have to ask, is all this really necessary? I know that Ruby has been focusing a lot on her studies lately, but isn't that a good thing? Ren is constantly bugging me about having to study more."

"Nora, the problem isn't that she's studying. The problem's in the amount of studying," Yang answered. "For some time now, she has been doing nothing but bury herself in her books, while avoiding anything that's even remotely fun. She is like a mix between Weiss and Blake, a lifeless hermit that does nothing but read books and acts all cold and mean to everybody around her."

"Hey!" both Weiss and Blake yelled, angered by what their teammate had said.

"Oh, be quiet, you two!" the brawler told her two teammates, before turning her attention back to Nora. "Like I said, we really need to do this for Ruby's sake. Can we trust you to handle this?"

"Gosh... I knew that Ruby had been focusing on her studies a lot more, but I never imagined that it could be that bad. Just imagining a person that's a mix of Weiss and Blake is horrifying enough," Nora said with fearful eyes, causing the monochrome members of RWBY to fume. "I'll do it. But I'll still want those pancakes you promised."

"It's a deal then," Yang said with a grin and shook hands with the ginger. After the deal had been made, the three members of RWBY started to head towards their dorm, while Nora went somewhere else.

However, before the three members of RWBY got anywhere close to their dorm, Yang took a hold of Weiss' shoulder and took her to a more secluded part with Blake following closely behind them. Now that they had some privacy, the blonde could have a talk with her white-haired teammate.

"Weiss, what are you up to?" Yang asked with a serious look on her face.

"W-What do you mean?" Weiss asked, confused by the sudden question.

"Don't play with me. Just a couple of days ago, you were all enraged at Rubes and accusing her of being a cheater of all things. Yet here you are, helping us out in trying to get close to her again," the brawler explained. "Just what is your game here? What are you trying to accomplish by helping us out?"

The heiress started to sweat nervously and looked at Blake, hoping that the faunus girl would offer at least some sort of help or at least sympathy. Unfortunately, Blake had a similar serious look on her face as her partner did. Both of these girls were suspicious of their teammate and wanted some answers.

With a deep breath, Weiss went on to explain herself.

"I guess what I'm doing is... trying," the heiress answered as she looked down at the floor and played with her ponytail a bit in order to calm herself.

"Trying what exactly?" Yang asked. "I want to know what you mean by that."

"What I'm trying is to be a better person and a friend, if that makes sense," Weiss started to explain. "The thing is that I have a lot of problematic things hammered into me and it's going to take a lot to get rid of them. And those things have come from my father and the way he raised me."

"Your father?" Blake asked. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"Most people make the assumption that since I was born into a wealthy noble family that my life has been easy and completely perfect. While there are certainly the positive sides to growing up like that, it's not as great as most would think," the white-haired girl continued her explanation. "As the heiress of our family, there were a lot of high expectations placed upon me since birth. My father made it clear to me that I have to best and perfect in everything I did. Nothing less was good enough. If I were to not achieve these high standards of his, I could expect a harsh punishment coming my way."

"But you're no longer at your home. Your father isn't here," Yang argued. "Why do you still feel the need to achieve the standards he has set up for you?"

"You have no idea how hard it is to break away from something you've been living with your entire life. Even these days, I expect my father to get angry at me for not being the one student with the best test score or best performance in a training exercise," Weiss answered. "Not only that, but he still manages to find out about things that happen in this school as well. When team RWBY was formed and I wasn't made the leader, I got a call from my father the next day, asking me to explain how something like that had happened. I was only able to get out of it by lying about the reasons I wasn't made leader."

"And what exactly did you tell your dad in that case?" the blonde asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"You don't want to know. Even I'm ashamed of the things I said back then," the heiress quickly said, hoping to avoid angering her teammate further. "Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that the reason I... well... snapped at Ruby the way I did was because of how I've been raised by my father. No matter what I try, I can't seem to escape his unreasonable expectations for me, and it still affects me."

"Are you saying we should forgive you?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow.

"As much as I wish I could, I know it's unreasonable. The things I said to Ruby aren't exactly easily forgiven, especially after I promised to try to be the best partner possible. I didn't exactly live up to that promise," Weiss answered with a sigh. "But I do wish that you'll give me a chance at least. After we had our... disagreement, things have been hard for me as well. The moment I realized you all wouldn't be my friends anymore, I was reminded of how alone I used to be back home. I don't want that and I'm ready to do anything to fix things between us. All I need is a chance."

There was a moment of silence, where Yang and Blake simply stared at their white-haired teammate, trying to see even a hint of a lie in her. However, they couldn't detect any deception in her, causing the blonde to let out a deep sigh.

"Sheesh... Now look at what you did," Yang said while rubbing the back of her head. "You made me feel all bad for what Blake and I did to you."

"You shouldn't. I did step out of line pretty badly," Weiss said. "Although, you might have gone a bit too far when you used the toilet-"

"Not apologizing for that," the brawler quickly cut off the heiress, causing her to frown a bit. "However, I am willing to give you chance. If not for anything else other than to keep our team together."

"That is all I ask. Thank you," Weiss said with a smile and even gave a small bow to her teammates, causing them to smile. "By the way, what is this new plan of yours?"

Yang and Blake looked at each other in confusion for a second, before looking at the white-haired girl again.

"Wait a second. You didn't know what our plan was and yet you were willing to help us out?" Blake asked.

"Well, I did say that I wanted to fix things up between me and my team, right?" Weiss said with a small smile. "So what is your plan this time?"

"Oh, it's a simple one," Yang began with a grin.

* * *

Meanwhile in Atlas, Winter Schnee was sitting in her office, looking through some of her soldiers' latest reports on the White Fang's activity, when she suddenly heard something.

_"YOU'RE GOING TO DO WHAT!?"_

"...Was that Weiss?" the white-haired woman asked herself with wide eyes.

* * *

Back with the WBY, Yang was desperately trying to keep Weiss quiet, who seemed to be determined to scream with all her might.

"Shhh! Stop screaming, Weiss!" the blonde said, hoping to get her teammate to quiet down. "We don't need the whole world to hear our conversation!"

"Are you insane, Yang!?" the white-haired girl asked angrily. "Do you have ANY idea what Ruby is going to do to me, if she finds out about this!? She'll think I tried to sabotage her test out of spite! I doubt I'll get away from it with just getting thrown to the ground!"

"She won't find out about this! I have made sure that she won't have any reason to suspect any of us!" Yang said. "Trust me, nothing can go wrong."

"I hope that's the case, Yang! Because after Ruby threw me to the floor that day, I think I saw a terrifying side of her that makes even Grimm look adorable!" Weiss said with a haunted look on her face. "For your sake, I hope you won't have to see it."

* * *

Later that night, Nora was going to hold her end of the deal and had managed to sneak into Oobleck's office. While most people would think that sneaking into the office of one of Beacon's professors would be impossible, the hammer-wielder knew a way to do it easily. The doors to the offices might be locked in a way that required a very skilled person to open them, but the windows weren't as protected. The windows were very easy for Nora to open, allowing her to enter Oobleck's office without any trouble. Now that she was in, all the ginger needed to do was find Ruby's history test and she would be almost done.

"Alright, now where is it?" the ginger mumbled to herself while going through the test papers in the teacher's desk. Eventually, she found the papers of her class, meaning Ruby's would be in there somewhere. "Yes! Now I just need to-"

However, Nora's excitement quickly died down upon finding out that the test had already been graded. She looked through some of her class' other papers and saw that it had been done to them as well. It seemed like Oobleck had finished grading the tests for one of the groups.

"Dang it! What am I supposed to do now!?" Nora cried out in frustration. "If I don't do something with Ruby's test, I won't get those pancakes! If there was only a way for me to switch the scores between her and someone-"

A sudden idea came to the hammer-wielder's head. She quickly dug through the papers and took out one of the other students' test and made some changes. With her work done, Nora quickly made her way out of the office and back to her team's dorm.

* * *

The next day, the members of team RWBY were sitting in Oobleck's class, waiting for the teacher to start. As they waited, Yang looked at Nora briefly, who gave her a thumbs up, signaling that she had done her work. With that confirmed, the blonde glanced at Ruby, hoping that everything would turn out well.

"Alright, class, let's begin!" Oobleck suddenly announced. "Now, I have been rather busy with all sorts of work, which has prevented me from grading most of the students' latest history tests. However, just recently, I found enough time to grade the tests for your group, meaning that I will be returning them to you now!"

For a moment, students just watched as the professor zoomed around the class in a fast pace, giving all of his students their papers. Eventually, it was the turn for the members of team RWBY, but while Weiss and Blake were interested in seeing how well they did, Yang didn't even bother looking at her paper. Her attention was focused completely on Ruby.

Once the redhead got her paper, she looked down on it and her eyes went wide. Her expression was one of disbelief as she looked at the low score she got.

"W-What!? How is this possible!? I studied like crazy! How could I fail this badly!?" Ruby said, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"It's alright, Rubes. Sometimes you mess up even if you do work hard," Yang said in a comforting tone as she walked up to the younger girl. "Overworking yourself can actually be more harmful than not working at all. Anyways, you shouldn't worry too much about it."

However, Ruby wasn't listening to the older girl at all. She was too busy looking through her test, hoping to see what she had done wrong. Upon seeing the answers written on the paper, the young team leader's expression changed first into one of confusion, before taking a look of anger.

"Hang on a second! What the hell is this!?" Ruby yelled angrily, which was noticed by Oobleck.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Rose?" the green-haired man asked after making his way to the student in the blink of an eye.

"There certainly is! This can't be my test paper!" the redhead said. "I know for a fact that I wrote an answer on every one of these questions! And my answers were a lot better than the ones that are actually written here! For example, I didn't write that the third king of Vale was called "Some dude"!"

Oobleck took the paper from his student in order to take a closer look. Upon seeing what Ruby was talking about, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"This certainly is odd. I remember that you did remarkably well on this test," the caffeine-addict said. "Certainly a lot better than whoever THIS belongs to."

"You know, that's pretty strange, because my test isn't what I expected either," Yang said while looking at her paper with a smile. "I mean, I'm not complaining or anything, but a full score!? I didn't even write answers on some of these questions! I even said that the third king of Vale was named some... dude..."

The blonde's eyes went wide upon realizing what had happened. She slowly turned to look at Oobleck and Ruby, who didn't look pleased. But while the professor looked disappointed, the scythe-wielder looked absolutely enraged. If Yang was being completely honest, the look Ruby was giving her was the most horrifying thing she had ever encountered, and she fought Grimm practically on a daily basis.

"I do hope that you have a good explanation for this, Ms. Xiao Long," Oobleck said sternly.

"Uhhh... I really hope that as well," Yang said, while thinking about what Weiss had told her. _'I'm guessing that's the terrifying side of Ruby that she told me about.'_

* * *

Some time later, Yang was running through the halls of Beacon, looking for Nora. Her friend had some serious explanation to do for what had happened. The brawler eventually found the ginger girl skipping down one of the hallways happily. She quickly grabbed her by the shoulder and started to demand an explanation.

"Nora, what the hell were you thinking!?" Yang asked her friend angrily. "Why did you switch the names between Ruby's test and mine!?"

"Well, you asked me to mess up her test so she would get a lower score, right?" Nora began to explain. "When I got my hands on her test, I found out that it had already been graded. But since I still wanted to hold my end of the deal, I thought that the best way to do it was by switching her name with someone else! That way she would still get the lower score you wanted her to have! And you got yourself a higher score as well! A pretty neat deal, am I right?"

"Neat isn't exactly the word that comes to my mind!" the blonde yelled angrily. "Not only did I get slammed with a lot of detention, Ruby is going to-"

"YANG!" roared a very familiar voice, causing the brawler's body to freeze up and her eyes to go wide. She slowly looked behind her and saw Ruby standing there, looking more angered than anyone had ever seen her. "Come here right now."

"Oooooh! She's mad," Nora said in awe at the younger girl, before whispering one more thing to Yang. "Don't forget about the pancakes you promised me."

The blonde gave her oblivious friend a glare, before making her way to her team leader. The two girls then started to walk around the school with the younger one leading the older one.

"Hey, Rubes... I need to say that-"

"Zip it, Yang. I am not interested," Ruby said in a stern tone, not in the mood for Yang's explanations. "Right now, there's not a damn thing in the world that could save you from what you're about to get, so make this easier to both of us and just stay quiet."

The brawler wisely decided to keep her mouth shut.

Soon, the two girls had made their way to one of the combat training arenas. Once they had made it to the middle of the place, Ruby finally stopped walking and turned her attention to Yang.

"Do you have any idea how damaging your latest stunt was?" the redhead asked with anger dripping from every word. "Not only did you try to steal MY work, but you also betrayed my trust and put me in a bad position as team leader!"

"W-What do you mean by-"

"CRAM IT, YANG! I'm not in the mood!" Ruby yelled, cutting off the older girl. "Because I am the leader of our team, I am expected to look after the performance of all of our members! And I am not talking just about combat exercises! While I do not need to worry about every little thing you do, I have to keep you, Weiss and Blake out of trouble! If any of you mess up like this, people are going to come after ME! Because I have to make sure none of you cause anything like this!"

"Geeze, I didn't know-"

"I don't care! Now, Professor Oobleck might have given you detention, but I am still expected to also discipline you! And I know just the method that should work on you!"

"...May I ask what that is?" Yang asked fearfully.

"It's rather simple," the redhead said before pulling out her scythe and glaring at the blonde with rage in her eyes. "Sparring. You and me. No holding back."

While most of the time, Yang would be excited to get to spar with Ruby, this was not like most times. This time, the brawler could only fear for her life, as she prepared for her toughest sparring session of all time.

* * *

**Author's notes: This chapter became a lot bigger, as I wanted to end this "arc", if you can call it that. I decided to shove all the things I had planned into this one chapter, so I could get past it and move forward.**

**I also feel that this chapter might be what confirms whether or not I'll continue this story to the end. Don't get me wrong, I have been more than happy to see all the support from you people, but there have also been some problems, which I understand. However, I have this feeling that this chapter is most likely the last one that will either make it or break it for most people. Depending on what happens will determine the continuation of this story. Remember, it's your support that keeps these stories alive. If this doesn't get it, we'll just get rid of it and try our best to forget it.**

**Also, to the people who keep asking about the WBY hearing Ruby's recording from chapter 1, it's going to happen, okay? It will happen later in the story, so you don't need to worry about it.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	8. Time With Rubes

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 8: Time With Rubes**

It had been a couple of days since Yang's latest plan had failed, causing her to get punished by not only Beacon's staff but by Ruby as well. The redhead had decided to take it upon herself to see to it that her blonde teammate was properly punished for what she had done. This punishment consisted of both girls going to the combat training arena for some "sparring," which mostly consisted of Yang doing her best to not get hurt too badly.

Today had been the last day Ruby was going to use for punishing the older girl, as she thought that Yang must have by now learned her lesson. When the brawler was told of this, she let out a couple of tears of joy, before getting carried back to the dorm by Weiss and Blake. Ruby just hoped that she wouldn't have to do anything like this again with any of her teammates.

After her last sparring session with Yang, Ruby had gone to the library to study. She didn't want to be near her teammates at the moment, as she could feel herself getting a headache just by being near them. Unfortunately for the redhead, she wasn't able to really do any studying, as her mind was too occupied by thoughts on her teammates, especially Yang. She couldn't understand just what had gotten into the brawler to make her act like this. It just didn't make sense to her.

"I just don't get it. I give her what she wants and suddenly she is all over me, doing everything she can to annoy me," Ruby muttered to herself while staring at the book in front of her, not really reading any of the text. "I was certain that she would be happy that I decided to give her, Weiss and Blake the space they wanted, but no. Instead, it feels like they are determined to make MY life a living hell! What I also don't understand is the goal of all the things they've been doing. What did Yang hope to gain by taking my test?"

As she was thinking about her teammates, the young team leader suddenly heard someone walking towards her. She looked up and saw none other than Glynda Goodwitch approaching her. However, instead of the usual stern and serious look on her face, the blonde teacher's expression was much softer, like she was concerned about something.

"Ms. Rose, can I talk to you for a moment?" Glynda asked her student. "There is something I want to discuss with you."

Ruby simply gave a small nod, as she was somewhat intimidated by the teacher. The reason for this was the lecture the redhead had gotten from Ozpin, where Glynda had been present. The lecture had been about Ruby's behavior in the "Deathstalker incident," which had honestly caused a lot of the professors to be upset at team RWBY, especially it's leader. While Ozpin had been the one to do the lecturing, Ruby was still reminded by the whole thing by just seeing Glynda, who served as a reminder of that time.

After sitting next to her student, the blonde witch noticed the obvious discomfort her student was in. It didn't take her long to realize why the girl must have been feeling like that, so Glynda decided to do something to calm Ruby down a bit.

"Ms. Rose, I know you must be thinking about... THAT incident, but I want you to know that I am not here to lecture you," the professor explained. "In fact, I've been meaning to talk to you about what happened with Professor Ozpin that time. In all honesty, for the first time in my life, I feel like HE was too harsh."

"W-What? Really?" Ruby asked with wide eyes, unable to believe that Glynda Goodwitch of all people saw someone as being too harsh. After all, the blonde teacher had been known for how strict and harsh she was.

"Yes. In fact, I do understand somewhat why you had your little... incident, so to speak," Glynda said with a gentle smile. "You actually remind me of myself when I used to be a student here."

"Do you really mean that?" the redhead asked in complete surprise. Never even in her wildest dreams would she have considered hearing such words from the teacher.

"I mean that with all my heart," Glynda answered. "You see, back when I used to be a student here, I was somewhat of a weakling. No one believed that I could become an actual Huntress. Even my own teammates and my partner didn't believe in me. Because of this, I pushed myself into my studies and practices harder than anyone did, which eventually allowed me to rise above those who doubted me. Before I knew it, I had become one of the most recognized Huntresses in the world."

"That... does sound like me," Ruby said as she looked down sadly. "I might have been accepted here because of my skills, but no one seems to see it that way. I can hear people whispering around me about how I got here on sheer luck, and that I don't belong here. Even my own team is like that."

"I'm ashamed to admit it, but even I had my doubts about you joining our school early," the blonde woman said with a hint of regret in her voice. "When Professor Ozpin decided to let you join two years in advance, I was certain he had made a mistake, even if he was the person whom I had followed without a question until then. But as I saw how well you performed in classes, I understood that he had not been wrong. It's especially obvious these days with how exceptionally well you are doing. In fact, if you keep this up, I feel like there might be something really good for you in your future."

"Really? What is that?" the young team leader asked.

"That is unfortunately something better left for the future. But if you keep up your incredibly good work, I assure you that you will find out soon enough," Glynda answered. "However, there is another matter that I wish to discuss with you."

"What would that be?" Ruby asked.

"It's about your team. Especially about the way they have been acting lately," the teacher replied. "I have to say that even after working here for years, I have never seen behavior like that from any other student before. Mind explaining what's behind it?"

"That's something I would like to know!" the redhead answered in a frustrated tone. "I just don't understand why they're acting up like this! Especially Yang! I have no idea as to what is going on with them!"

"I'm afraid I have no idea either, but I feel like you are the only one who has a chance of finding out what it is," Glynda said thoughtfully. "I know that you are frustrated, if not angry, with your team, but you shouldn't give up on them. You were all placed on the same team, after all. It would be a shame if your team were to break up on it's first year."

"The only reason we're in the same team was because we happened to grab the same chess pieces during the initiation!" Ruby said with a huff. "That doesn't really make us a specially made team with a purpose! In all honesty, I'm starting to feel like it was all just a big misfortune that had all of us on the same team and that's it!"

"It may seem like that, but I don't think so. I can tell from experience that all of the teams that have been formed through these methods have turned out just fine. Even if they have had problems at some point. You shouldn't give up on them just because of some mistakes they have done."

"Even when those mistakes are some of the biggest mistakes they could have done?"

"Yes. You remember how I said how my own team didn't believe in me?" Glynda asked, getting a nod from her student. "Well, once I showed just how capable I could be, they apologized and wanted to make up for it. I eventually patched things up with them and they became such good friends they were practically family. I feel like something similar can happen with you, if you give it a chance."

Ruby looked down in thought, considering what she had just been told. Even if she had been irritated and hurt by her teammates for some time now, they still held a special place in her heart. In all honesty, the redhead couldn't really imagine a life without them, especially when she remembered some of the good times they have had together. Maybe the blonde teacher was speaking the truth.

"Thank you, Professor Goodwitch. I'll think about what you just told me," Ruby said and bowed her head a bit to the teacher.

"It's no problem, Ms. Rose. This is why we teachers are here, after all," Glynda said with a smile.

* * *

Meanwhile in team RWBY's dorm, Weiss and Blake were looking over Yang, who was laying on her partner's bed in pain. Her latest "sparring session" with Ruby had left her exhausted and bruised, which is why her two teammates had to practically carry her back to their dorm to rest. The blonde wasn't making any sounds either while laying down with her face buried in a pillow, except for pained moans and whines she made upon trying to move even a bit.

"Sheesh, Ruby really went overboard with you this time," Weiss said while looking at her blonde teammate.

Yang simply let out a pained whine as a response.

"You're lucky that this was the last sparring match for your punishment," Blake added. "Otherwise, I'm not sure if you would survive for much longer."

The brawler let out another pained whine while trying her best to nod her head.

The monochrome duo looked at each other in concern, thinking the same thing. So far, this whole operation of getting back the old Ruby had not been working at all. In fact, it had only caused them nothing but trouble and pain. It was probably for the best to quit the whole thing, before things got more out of hand than they already had.

"Yang, it might be a good idea to stop finally," Blake suggested. "No matter what we have tried, we have made no progress at all and have only angered Ruby. If this keeps on, I fear what-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Yang suddenly yelled as she jumped from the bed and stood in front of her teammates. "Do you think I'm going to give up!? Do you think I'm just going let things be the way they are!? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I will not stop until I have gotten back the old Ruby, whom we all love! And I don't care what I have to go through in order to get that!"

"Yang, this is insane!" the cat faunus yelled at the blonde. "After everything you've had to go through, you still want to continue!? At this rate, I fear what might happen to you! Ruby is already angry enough with you, and you really want to risk making her even angrier!?"

"I will take any risk necessary, until things are finally back the way they're supposed to be!" Yang argued. "How am I supposed to just sit back, when Ruby has turned into something she isn't!? It's not right and-!"

The brawler's rambling was suddenly cut off by a punch to the face, which caused her to fall to the floor. Her eyes were red as she turned to glare at her attacker, only for her rage to disappear upon seeing Weiss glaring down at her with tears falling from her eyes. Even Blake was staring at the heiress with wide eyes.

"Would you listen to us for a moment!? Can't you see that we are not only worried about you, but Ruby as well!? And how damaged the relationship between her and all of us has gotten!? And you are willing to take a risk that can make things even worse!? Have you lost your damn mind!?" Weiss ranted at her teammate. "Do you have any idea how we feel from seeing you practically destroy yourself like this!? Let me tell you, it doesn't feel good at all!"

Yang looked down, thinking about what the white-haired girl had said. It was true that she had been way too focused on Ruby to even consider how her other two teammates felt, even when she herself had made them part of her plans and everything. It must have been horrible for the monochrome duo.

"I... I just wanted things to get fixed between Ruby and me. That's all I wanted," the blonde said sadly. "And I can't just give up on that. I just can't! What am I supposed to do?"

"How about you try something calmer and more rational for once?" Weiss asked as she offered her teammate a helping hand to pull her up. "Instead of all these crazy plans of yours, how about something much simpler? Something that doesn't risk making her hate you?"

"Like what?" Yang asked.

"How about you simply try to spend time with her?" the white-haired girl suggested. "And before you say how you have already tried to do that, I don't mean that you should go to an amusement park or to the movies with her. How about you simply join her on one of her study sessions? Something that she herself likes to spend her time with?"

"I don't know, Weiss," the blonde said with doubt in her voice. "While I guess I could use that to finally get close to her, I just don't know if I could use it to really get a closer relationship with her. Not to mention, that sounds so boring-"

Yang was cut off by another punch this time on the top of her head. Weiss had a look of anger and frustration on her face while holding her shaking fist.

"Didn't you just say that you were ready to whatever it takes to get back the old Ruby!?" the heiress practically growled. "Honestly, does everything need to be crazy and stupid with you!? Or is the great Yang Xiao Long defeated by a simple study session?"

Rubbing the sore spot on her head, Yang thought about it. Perhaps Weiss had the perfect idea after all. If Ruby agreed to have her join on her study session, she could use the opportunity to possibly fix at least some of the bridges that had been burnt between her and the redhead.

"You're right... Yeah, you're right!" the blonde said with enthusiasm, feeling hopeful about her situation. "This could possibly work! There shouldn't be any reason for Ruby to not let me join her on her study session, so I can use that to my advantage! Great idea, Weiss!"

"It sure is," the white-haired girl said with a smile. "Not to mention, maybe you can use the opportunity to get some knowledge through that thick skull of yours for once!"

"Yeah, that could be- HEY!"

Both Weiss and Blake laughed a bit at their blonde teammate's expense, who had a blush on her face from both embarrassment and anger. However, she decided not to blow up, since her two teammates had been helping her greatly, especially Weiss just now. There might be some hope of getting team RWBY back the way it was.

Just then, the door opened with Ruby stepping inside. The three older girls turned to look at the younger girl, who in turn stared back at her teammates in silence. No one said anything, as an awkward silence fell over the room.

"Ummm... I'm just here to go to bed," Ruby said, breaking the awkward silence. "I've been studying in the library the whole day, so I'm pretty tired."

"About that studying of yours, Rubes," Yang suddenly said while taking a step closer to the redhead. "I was kind of wondering about something. Do you think I could join you for your study session tomorrow? I promise I won't be a bother."

Ruby gave a strange look at the blonde. Never would she have ever expected that she would hear such words from Yang's mouth. When it came to studying, the brawler tried her best to avoid it even more than the young team leader used to. To hear that she wanted to join a study session was almost unbelievable.

"Are you sure you're the real Yang?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. "The way I remember it, the last thing Yang Xiao Long liked to do was study. Where did this sudden want to work on your academic skills come from?"

"Hey, even I can study for the sake of my grades!" Yang said, slightly offended by the way the younger girl had just described her. "I just... really want to do it, okay? I feel like it could be of great use to me. So, is it okay if I join you?"

The scythe-wielder thought about it for a moment. At first, she didn't see any harm in it. In fact, maybe having her teammate join her on her studies could even help her improve even more efficiently.

However, then Ruby remembered that this was Yang Xiao Long they were talking about. And since her latest experiences with the blonde girl had been nothing but disasters, there was a high chance this would be as well. It just didn't seem like a risk worth taking.

"As... interesting as that sounds, I'm going to have to say no," the redhead replied after thinking it over. "I'm just afraid that-"

"Ruby, please!" Yang suddenly yelled desperately, catching Ruby off guard. "I really need this. Can you please let me join you?"

The scythe-wielder looked at the brawler, still somewhat taken aback by the sudden outburst. She looked at the older girl's face and saw the desperation in her eyes, telling just how serious she was about all of this. This caused Ruby's resolve to start breaking apart. There was also the things Professor Goodwitch had told her earlier that caused her to doubt her first answer.

"...I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" the young team leader muttered to herself. "Alright, you can join me on my study session tomorrow. However, I expect you to be on your best behavior. Understood?"

Yang's face lit up with the biggest and brightest smile she had ever had, and she pulled Ruby into a powerful hug.

"I will! I will! You can count on me to act like a model citizen tomorrow!" the blonde yelled happily while spinning the younger girl around in her arms. "Oh, thank you so much for this!"

While Yang was joyfully hugging Ruby, while Weiss and Blake were watching them with smiles on their faces, the redhead was already starting to have doubts on her decision. Not only had the brawler's behavior not been of the best quality lately, but there was also the fact that Ruby could feel her bones breaking from the hug that made her have doubts. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

* * *

On the next day, after the classes had ended, Ruby was heading towards the library with Yang following behind her. The blonde was skipping happily along with the younger girl, who had a doubtful look on her face. She still wasn't fully behind this whole idea of having the older girl join her for a study session. Ruby just hoped that nothing too bad would happen.

Once in the library, the two girls found themselves an empty table that was a good distance away from the other people and sat down. They then took out their books, opened them and began to study. However, while Ruby was busy reading through the pages of her book and taking notes, Yang was too busy stealing glances at the redhead. Right now was the chance she had been hoping for. The chance to get closer with Ruby and possibly fix their relationship.

"Man, this stuff can be dull," the blonde said in a somewhat joking manner. "I mean, why do we need to even learn all this stuff? What good does it do to us to know all of the things written here, right?"

"Seeing as how our main role is to protect people from the Grimm, I think it should be obvious as to why we are studying the biology, habits and physical traits of Grimm," Ruby answered without looking up from her book. "After all, how can we possibly expect to fight something, when we don't even know a thing about it?"

"Well, I usually just punch the things that are threatening people and things seem to turn out well enough! I guess you could say I take care of things with a _Yang_!" Yang said with a small chuckle, hoping that she could get the younger girl to laugh a little. Unfortunately, all she got was an annoyed stare. "Uhhh... Was I trying too hard?"

"I think your problem isn't trying too hard. It's that you're not trying at all!" Ruby said sternly. "This stuff is important, Yang! Every bit of knowledge could mean life or death out there! You should be taking this a bit more seriously!"

Having not expected such a lecture from the younger girl, Yang was taken aback quite a bit. The only people so far that had talked to her like that had only been teachers or her dad, but never had the brawler expected Ruby of all people to be like this. Having the redhead act like this just reminded Yang of how far apart they had grown, which broke her heart and made her feel like crying.

"You've really changed, Ruby," the blonde said almost inaudibly. "What made you like this?"

"Like I've told you already, I've decided to take my studies seriously and aim to become the best Huntress possible!" the redhead said with anger in her voice. "Seriously, do I really need to explain that to you again?"

"Not really, but that's not what I'm talking about," Yang answered. "I was talking more about... us."

Ruby stopped reading and looked up from her book at the older girl. There was an expression of confusion on her face, as she wondered what the brawler was talking about.

"Just what do you mean by that?" the scythe-wielder asked. "The way I see it, nothing has really changed between us all that much."

"Yes, there has. We are not like we used to be," Yang said, looking up at Ruby. "Back in the day, we used to do so much together. No matter what we were doing, we would do it with each other. I mean, remember how we used to ride our red wagon down the hill when we were kids? You would always hold onto me as tightly as you could, while screaming in horror."

"Hey, at the speeds we were going, I think anyone would have screamed the way I did. Not to mention, I was at best seven years old at the time," Ruby said in her defense, before looking down in thought. "But we did do a lot together. I can't remember a single game that we played where we weren't together. Like the way we used to pretend to be Huntsmen."

"Right!? I remember that!" the blonde said excitedly. Her hopes of reaching the younger girl seemed to be possible. "We used to come up with all these cool hero names for ourselves and made Grimm out of cardboard for us to fight! What were those names again?"

"I believe you were "The Godly Golden Dragon Of Awesomeness" and my name was "The Red Meteor." Or at least something along those lines," the young team leader said with a smile on her face, thinking back to the old days. "Didn't we make Zwei into one of our Grimm opponents as well?"

"Oh yeah! The nefarious Monster Fluffy!" Yang said and let out a laugh. "God, we were such dorks! How could we come up with such names?"

"Well, I'd say that I at least had some taste when it came to names," Ruby said with a small smirk on her face. "I mean, I could honestly see a Huntsman going by the name of "Red Meteor", but I doubt anyone would use a name like the one you came up with."

"Hey, you watch your mouth! I am very confident in how cool I have always been!" the brawler said in mock anger. "Besides, I'm willing to bet that there is someone going under at least a somewhat similar name like the one I made!"

"Sure. One who doesn't get any work at all."

"HEY!"

Both girls were smiling and laughing at their childhood memories. It seemed like all the bad things that had happened between them had been forgotten, as they were now just enjoying each other's company. Seeing Ruby so happy and relaxed warmed up Yang's heart and made her smile.

_'How long has it been since the last time we were like this?'_ the blonde thought to herself. _'It feels like an eternity since I last saw Rubes in such a good mood. I better make sure the mood stays like that!'_

"Hey, I'm gonna go get us some snacks, alright?" Yang said while standing up. "There was a vending machine near the entrance, so I'll get the stuff from there. What would you like to get?"

"Oh, there's no need for you to do that," Ruby said as she started to get up herself. "I can be the one to get us-"

"No, I insist," the older girl quickly said, cutting off the younger girl, and gently pushed her back to her seat. "After some of the... less than nice things I've done, I feel like I should do this."

"If you insist, then sure," the redhead replied with a small smile. "Could you get me an energy drink? Preferably strawberry-flavored. I think I'll need it for the study session today."

"Coming right up!" Yang said happily and went to get the snacks. She even decided to get Ruby something besides the energy drink, just in order to be extra nice.

It didn't take long for the brawler to find the vending machine at the library's entrance. She looked at what the machine had and quickly found the drink Ruby was asking for. She even saw a small package of cookies, which brought a grin to her face. Getting the scythe-wielder her favorite type of treats would surely warm things up between them even further.

After deciding what she wanted to buy, Yang took out her wallet and started to put money in the machine. With the cash in, she pressed on some of the buttons, making her order. Now all she needed to do was wait for the machine to give her snacks and she would be ready.

However, nothing was happening. Nothing came out of the vending machine, not even the blonde girl's money. The machine wasn't even making any sounds to indicate that it was working. Instead, it was completely silent. It didn't take long for Yang to start getting irritated.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" the brawler asked angrily and shook the vending machine a bit. "You just took my money, you greedy bastard! You're supposed to give me the treats I want! The least you could do is return the cash, you lazy hunk of junk!"

Seeing as shaking the machine lightly didn't do anything, Yang started to shake it more violently. When that didn't provide any results, she started to bang on it with her fists and even kicked it a couple of times.

"Hey! Do something, you useless piece of crap!" the blonde yelled and increased the strength behind her punches, causing dents to appear on the machine's surface. "Give me the stuff I want or I'll take them from you!"

Back with Ruby, the young team leader had returned to her studies once Yang had left. However, upon hearing strange noises coming from the direction of the entrance, she couldn't help but stop what she had been doing and listen. At first, the sounds had been very light and not all that bothersome, but it didn't take long for the noise to get much worse. Now she could tell that the sounds came from some metallic object getting hit, along with what sounded like someone cursing.

Not being able to focus on her studies with the noise, Ruby decided to get up from her seat and go investigate what was going on. What she found made her eyes go wide. Near the entrance, Yang was punching and kicking a vending machine with all of her strength, causing it to get dented and trashed beyond repair. As the blonde girl was doing this, she was yelling angry curses with a face red from anger.

"Alright, that does it! I am getting that stuff, no matter what!" Yang roared as she pulled out her gauntlets and some special ammo for them. "And remember that you made me do this!"

Ruby's face turned pale upon recognizing the special ammunition the older girl had pulled out. They were special Fire Dust rounds that would cause flames to come out upon impact. If they were used in the library, it would lead to a disaster.

"YANG, DON'T!" the redhead yelled, hoping to prevent the brawler from doing what she feared, but it didn't work. Before Ruby could do anything, Yang had already smashed her fist into the vending machine and fired her shot, causing flames to shoot out. The brawler pulled her fist out of the wreckage, holding a bottle of the energy drink Ruby had asked for and held it up in the air, like she had just torn the heart out of an opponent.

"HA! VICTORY IS MINE!" Yang cheered proudly while holding her prize. She then noticed the redhead standing nearby, staring at her in shock. "Check it out, Rubes! I got the drink you were asking for!"

"YOU IDIOT! Do you really think I care about the drink at this point!?" Ruby yelled angrily. "Right now, we need to put out those flames, before they activate the-!"

Before the young team leader could finish her sentence, water started to rain from the fire extinguishers on the ceiling. Now, while any normal library would be pretty much destroyed by something like this, as all the books would get damaged by the water, Beacon's library was a bit better prepared. Since it was a school with students that had all sorts of extraordinary abilities and could even possess flammable substances, a fire breaking out in the library was something that the school had been prepared for a long time ago. This was done by the bookshelves having an automatic protection system that activated before the fire extinguishers did. This system caused protective covers to come from the sides of the bookshelves, which covered the books in the shelves from getting damaged by the water.

However, that still left many books that had been taken from the shelves to be damaged, which included Ruby's books, along with her notes.

"Ummm... I still have that energy drink you wanted," Yang said with an awkward smile on her face, hoping that the scythe-wielder wasn't too angry with her.

Ruby simply glared at the older girl with the angriest look she could muster, while she was gritting her teeth and shaking from rage.

* * *

A while later, the two girls were exiting Ozpin's office, after getting a stern lecture from the headmaster himself. While most of the books had been saved, there had still been some that were lost due to water damage. Not to mention, there was also the risk of more books getting damaged due to the moisture that was now in the library.

As punishment, both Ruby and Yang weren't allowed to enter the library for some time now. While Yang had been the one to take most of the blame for obvious reasons, Ruby had also been seen as partially responsible. Since the redhead was the blonde girl's team leader and was at the scene when the whole thing happened, Ozpin considered that Ruby should have been able to act in time to prevent the whole thing from happening, thus earning her the punishment as well.

"Man, that really sucked. I don't see what's the big deal, since only a few books got damaged," Yang said in a nervous voice, knowing that Ruby must be VERY angry with her at the moment. She then decided to try and lighten up the mood with a joke. "I guess we need to take a _rain check_ for our next study session in the library, huh?"

Upon hearing the awful joke, the younger girl suddenly stopped. Before the blonde could ask what was wrong, Ruby turned around, grabbed Yang by the front of her shirt and pulled her face close to her own. The redhead practically had flames shooting out of her eyes due to all the anger she felt, which scared the brawler.

"Yang," Ruby said while gritting her teeth.

"Y-Yes?" Yang replied.

"Stay. Away. From. ME!" the young team leader yelled, before letting go of the older girl and disappearing in a cloud of rose petals, leaving the blonde alone.

"...I'm back to square one again, aren't I?" Yang said with a sad sigh, feeling her hopes slipping away.

* * *

**Author's notes: I would like to thank Sonochu for giving me the idea for this chapter. Hope you guys liked how it turned out.**

**However, I do have some possible bad news regarding this story. I'm going to be taking a break from writing it in order to consider if I'll continue it. The reason for this is that it seems I've made a good amount of my readers uncomfortable with this story, which is something that doesn't sit well with me. While I personally still want to continue this story, I'm not sure if I should when considering the readers. Depending on how I see things, I will either continue or stop this story completely. This is just something I need to do for my sake, as I want to know if you guys truly want this story to continue. Thank you all for the support so far.**

**Also, a lot of people have been asking me to change the pairing, which I'm afraid won't happen. I have two reasons for this. First, there are obviously going to be those who would be disappointed if I were to change the pairing, so I need to consider them. Not to mention, this story did start with Yang/Ruby as the pairing, so it would have essentially been false advertising if I were to change it now. And second, I personally want the love interest to be someone from the WBY, as it adds to the story with them and Ruby being the focus. Not to mention, I haven't really planned anything for any other characters, so having one of them be the "romantic interest" would just feel hollow and pointless. There will be other characters with a bigger role, but I can't use them as the pairing for personal reasons.**

**I also want to bring up one comment that kind of "rubbed me the wrong way." I mean no offense to the person who said it, but I still feel it's necessary to bring up. The comment essentially said that I should change the pairing as most of my stories feature Yang/Ruby and a little change is good. While I do wish to do other pairings in the future, this story isn't one of them and I have always thought of it as Yang/Ruby. Not to mention, I see no reason to "change", when about 99% of RWBY fanfics fall under three pairings. A) WhiteRose, B) Bumblebee or C) WhiteRose AND Bumblebee.**

**Anyways, I'll be going back to Dead By Roselight and Securing A Future, the latter of which I'm currently working on the next chapter. I'm also considering starting some new stories, so I hope you'll check those out.**

**Since long AN's aren't allowed, I need to end this here. If you have any questions, PM me and I'll do my best to answer.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	9. Prank Gone Wrong

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 9: Prank Gone Wrong**

It had been a couple of days since Yang's incident at the library. Because of what had happened, Ruby had once again began to avoid her teammates like they were carrying the plague. This was something she especially did with her blonde teammate, who could barely get anywhere near the younger girl, before she disappeared in a cloud of rose petals. To say the least, Yang was heartbroken by this new development.

Since she didn't have any good ideas, the brawler had decided to ask for the assistance of her other two teammates. Unfortunately, the two girls weren't exactly all that keen on helping their teammate, as they feared what might happen to them for getting too involved in her crazy plans.

The three older girls were at the moment walking through the hallways of Beacon, while Yang was trying her best to get her two teammates to assist her.

"Come on, guys! Help me out!" the blonde begged the other two girls. "I really need all the help I can get! Can't you see how desperate I am?"

"I'm pretty sure it's obvious to a blind person just how desperate you are," Blake answered with a roll of her eyes.

"Yang, you are not going to get us to assist you with your hopeless efforts! So far, you have only made things worse!" Weiss said angrily. "Besides, I just did help you, didn't I!? I gave you the simplest of instructions and you only had ONE THING to do! Yet despite how easy your job should have been, you somehow managed to screw it up! How do you do that!?"

"Hey! I had a good reason for what I did! That damn vending machine was asking for it!" Yang yelled in her defense. "Besides, I really needed that energy drink. It would have helped make things better between me and Rubes a lot..."

"Yang, I am certain that things would have gone just as fine, if you had explained everything to Ruby and had just continued normally from there," Blake said with a sigh. "Honestly, what made you think that it was a good idea to go all Mortal Kombat on a vending machine of all things? You were lucky that most of library's books stayed safe. Otherwise, you would have angered ME as well."

"Guys, I know I screwed up, but I need at least a little bit of help!" the blonde continued to plead. "Just something! A hint, an idea, anything! Just give me something to work with!"

"Even if we gave you something, I'm sure you would just use it for some crazy scheme or plan," Weiss said with a roll of her eyes. "And I'm sure we all know how well those have gone with you."

"THAT'S IT!" Yang suddenly exclaimed excitedly. "I need a new scheme! Something clever! Something that-!"

The brawler's speech was cut off by Weiss grabbing her by the collar and slapping her across the face a few times. The heiress was furious with how her teammate had apparently ignored what she had said.

"NO! No more schemes! No more plans!" Weiss yelled at her blonde teammate. "Every time you have had one of your plans, it has backfired in the worst possible way! Don't you see that they're not working!?"

"B-But they're the only thing I've got for me right now!" Yang tried to argue. "Besides, they have always had an idea behind them, so they do have potential!"

"Like the idiotic plan involving sabotaging Ruby's test? That "plan" had so many holes in it that it was bound to fail! Seriously, what made you think that it would ever work!?" the heiress ranted, before turning her attention to Blake. "I'm surprised that YOU went along with it. I honestly thought that you were smarter than that."

"Well, Yang can be very persuasive..." the cat faunus weakly defended herself.

"Persuasive, my ass..." Weiss muttered angrily. "Honestly, did you two even consider the consequences that could have fallen on us!? We are EXTREMELY lucky that we got away with the punishment we got!"

"But I'm the only one who got punished..." Yang corrected her teammate.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" the fencer yelled at the top of her lungs. "My point is that all your plans have managed to accomplish is make things worse for us! So whatever new "brilliant scheme" you have come up with is best left alone and unused!"

Yang was about to defend herself, but she noticed something red from the corner of her eye. Turning her gaze fully towards what she had seen, the blonde saw Ruby coming out of a nearby room and walk away, most likely heading towards her team's dorm.

"Hey! Are you listening to me!?" Weiss yelled at the brawler, angered over being ignored.

"I just saw Ruby come out of that room," Yang said, her gaze never leaving the door Ruby had just walked through. "What's over there?"

"I think that's the workshop over there," Blake answered. "If you don't have the tools or the space to work on your weapons, you can go there. I'm guessing Ruby must have been there to do some repairs on her scythe or something."

"I doubt it's anything that simple," the blonde said. "I'm willing to bet anything that there's a special reason for her to go there. And I'm going to find out what it is. Are you two with me?"

Blake and Weiss looked at each other, wondering what they should do. On one hand, they didn't want to get involved with Yang's crazy ideas anymore, but at the same time, they knew their teammate's actions could potentially get them in trouble, regardless of their lack of direct involvement. If they went along, they might be able to at least reduce the amount of damage that was going to be caused.

"Alright, we're coming along," Weiss said with a frustrated sigh. "However, I want you to promise us that you will actually listen to what we say. Okay?"

"Sure, I'll listen," Yang replied. _'Doesn't mean I'll actually do what you tell me to.'_

* * *

The next day, the WBY kept their eyes glued on their young team leader. They were determined to find out what Ruby was up to in Beacon's workshop, so they weren't going to take their eyes off her for even a second. Once the classes were over, the three older girls followed closely behind the redhead, making sure to stay out of her sight. It didn't take long for Ruby to reach the workshop, where she went in without finding out about being followed. The WBY silently walked up to the door and peeked inside. There they saw their young team leader working on one of the computers in the room, which were used by students in order to design new weapons for themselves.

"Any idea what she's doing there?" Yang asked quietly from her two teammates. "She's blocking the computer screen, so I can't really tell from here."

"I think she might be working on one of the weapon design programs," Blake answered. "Maybe she is planning to upgrade her current weapon or even replace it."

"I highly doubt that Rubes would ever replace her Crescent Rose," the blonde said. "That scythe is one of her most beloved things in the whole world. She's not getting rid of it anytime soon. And even then she would only do it if it was absolutely necessary."

The three older girls continued to observe Ruby as she worked on the computer. Eventually the young team leader finished whatever she was working on, turned off the machine and got up from her seat to leave the room. Upon noticing the younger girl beginning to leave, the WBY quickly hid themselves, so that Ruby wouldn't see them as she walked through the door. When the redhead had left, the three older girls went into the workshop, hoping to see what she had been doing there.

"Yang, I think your investigation has just hit a wall," Weiss said as the blonde girl turned on the computer Ruby had been using. "It doesn't matter even if we get to the same computer, unless we have Ruby's username and password, we won't see anything she has been doing."

"Oh, you of little faith! The username is easy to guess, since we were all given similar ones when we came to Beacon! It's basically just your full name and that's it!" Yang said with a cocky smirk. "The password on the other hand..."

"Yeah. That's kind of what I was talking about," the heiress said and rolled her eyes. "The password can be literally ANYTHING. Just how are you supposed to find out what it is? Guessing?"

"Well, I can always try!" the brawler boasted and typed in "Crescent Rose" to the password, only for it to not work. "...Okay, I'm out of any good guesses."

"That settles it then! We've got nothing to do here, so we leave! End of story," Weiss stated and began to leave with Blake following right behind her.

However, Yang suddenly grabbed the cat faunus' arm, stopping her in her tracks. Blake turned to look at her partner and saw her staring at her with an intense look in her eyes.

"What is it, Yang?" the raven-haired girl asked.

"Is it possible for you to hack the computer?" the blonde asked. "Can you get us in?"

"...Huh? What makes you think I know-"

"You used to be in the White Fang, right? I'm sure you've had to do stuff like that back then," Yang said, cutting off her partner. "If you can, then it should be possible for us to get in."

"Alright, first of all, I would like it if you didn't assume things about me due to my past or even remind me of it," Blake said in a slightly angered tone. "Second, even if I could hack into the computer, why should I? What reason could I have to-"

Before the cat faunus could finish her question, Yang put six cans of tuna on the table, causing Blake's eyes to go wide. The raven-haired girl didn't know how the brawler had managed to hide the cans in her uniform, but she didn't care. All she was focused on was the delicious fish treats right in front of her eyes.

"This is just the first part of my payment," Yang stated. "Do this for me and there will be more. Triple this amount, to be exact."

Without even saying a word, Blake quickly took the seat in front of the computer and began to do her thing. She connected her Scroll into the computer, as it held a hacking program she had used back in her days in the White Fang, which should easily allow her to access the computer.

"What the-!? Blake, are you serious!?" Weiss yelled, shocked by how easily the faunus girl had been persuaded. "Where is your pride!?"

"First tuna. Then pride," Blake answered without looking away from the computer.

"You have got to be kidding me..." the heiress muttered while pinching the bridge of her nose from frustration.

It didn't take long until the former terrorist had hacked into the computer, allowing the three girls to see what their team leader had been working on. After Blake had done her thing, she grabbed the tuna her partner had offered while drooling, allowing Yang to take over the computer. The blonde immediately opened up the program students used to design their weapons and started to look for the files Ruby had been working on.

"This brings back memories," Yang said while looking through the files for the weapon designing program. "I remember how I designed my gauntlets with this same program back in Signal."

"You actually designed your weapons yourself?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow. "Now that's pretty surprising actually."

"What do you mean by that?" the brawler asked in response.

"I always assumed that someone else designed your weapons or that you bought them from someone," the heiress explained. "I guess you can use your head for something other than hitting things after all."

"Hey! I can do things that require thinking as well!" Yang yelled, offended by her teammate's comment. "Although... I guess I would be lying if I said that I made them entirely by myself. I did have Ruby helping me with a few things..."

"Ruby helped you out?" Blake asked, somewhat impressed by the skills her team leader possessed. "How much exactly did she do?"

"Well, she did make the original blueprints," the blonde answered. "And the models through the program. ...And she's the one who actually built my gauntlets in the end as well."

"So she basically did ALL of the work?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not all of it!" Yang quickly said. "I came up with the original design!"

"What was that like? A pair of boxing gloves with shotguns taped to them?" Blake joked.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT!? DID RUBY TELL YOU THAT!?" the brawler yelled with a face red from embarrassment.

"...That was supposed to be a joke," the cat faunus replied.

"...Oh," was all Yang could say after letting one of her embarrassing secrets known to her two teammates. "Well, I guess there's no point in hiding it. Rubes is a real wizard when it comes to weapons and other machinery. She has even helped me fix my bike a few times in the past. She's real reliable in those things."

"Still, you're honestly unbelievable. If you couldn't make your weapons yourself, why didn't you just hire a professional for it?" Weiss asked. "My rapier was designed and made by the best weaponsmith in all of Atlas, thus ensuring it's high quality."

"Not everyone can afford having some overly expensive master make your weapons for you, princess," the blonde muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Freaking pampered brat."

"Bite your tongue, Xiao Long!" the fencer yelled, angered by the comment. She then turned her attention to Blake. "What about you? Did you make your own weapon?"

"Not exactly," the raven-haired girl answered. "Back in the White Fang, we had our own weaponsmith in the group that talked to each one of us and made something based on what we wanted. Mine was made with the idea that it wouldn't burden me too much, allowing me to move quickly in the battlefield. Although, I wouldn't have minded, if I had someone like Ruby work on my equipment."

"Yeah... It's pretty cool," Yang said with a melancholic look in her eyes, as she thought about the good old days with Ruby.

A moment of silence fell over the three girls, as both Weiss and Blake saw the look on their teammate's face. Neither of them could bring themselves to saying anything, fearing that they would only upset the blonde further. Eventually, Weiss finally decided to speak up, hoping to change the subject.

"So, what exactly are you even going to do when you find what Ruby has been doing here?" the white-haired girl asked while looking at the computer screen. "I seriously hope that you are not going to do something idiotic, like destroy the files. Or do I need to remind what happened last time you decided to anger her?"

"No way am I doing anything like that again! I learned my lesson!" Yang said while shuddering at the memory of how pissed off Ruby had been over the whole test fiasco, before turning her attention back to what she had been doing a moment ago. "I do have an idea, but I first want to see what she's been doing. Can't help but be curious, you know?"

The brawler soon found the files she had been looking for and opened one of them. It seemed to be a design for a sword that transformed into a flamethrower. This confused the three girls, as they didn't understand why Ruby would be designing such a thing, since she most likely wouldn't use it herself or even her teammates. Yang opened another file and saw that it was another design for a random weapon. She kept looking through the files and saw that they were all the same, weapons that didn't have users they knew of.

"What's all this for?" Weiss asked. "I was expecting her to be making an upgraded version for her scythe, but all these seem to be nothing else than random stuff that no one is using. What's the purpose for all of this?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I might have an idea," Yang answered. "This could be some sort of a hobby for Rubes, since she loves weapons a lot. She might be designing these just for fun, with the possibility of even making some of them in the future."

"So now that you know what she has been up to, what exactly are you going to do?" Blake asked.

"Just watch," the blonde replied with a small smirk, before connecting her Scroll to the computer. She then copied all of the files of the weapon designs Ruby had been working on onto her Scroll. "That's the first part. And now for the second one."

Both Weiss and Blake went wide-eyed from shock as they watched how Yang deleted all of Ruby's design files from the computer without any hesitation.

"YANG, ARE YOU INSANE!?" Weiss yelled.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT RUBY IS GOING TO DO TO YOU FOR THIS!?" Blake yelled as well.

"Relax, you two. I've got all the files safely copied in my Scroll, so no damage was actually done," Yang said, completely relaxed over the whole situation. "I'm just going to pull a little prank on Ruby. That's all."

"What kind of a prank are you planning!?" the heiress asked, still in shock over what the blonde was doing. "What in the hell could you possibly be thinking of doing this time!?"

"Here's how it goes. I'm going to leave a few files here that have same names as the ones in my Scroll at the moment, which makes it look like nothing has happened at all," the brawler began to explain. "However, when Rubes opens one of the files on the computer, she's going to find something completely different. She gets a small shock, comes looking for us and demands us to give her the files back. But instead of giving them to her, I actually negotiate with her a bit and get her to spend some time with us, which allows us to begin rebuilding our relationship with her. In the end, I'd say everybody wins!"

"And what exactly is going to stop Ruby from simply using her scythe on you, once she finds out what you've done?" Blake asked.

"Oh please, it's just a prank! Ruby's been through plenty of my pranks already, so I doubt that she'll get all that angry," Yang replied in a completely relaxed tone. "Since I have the actual files completely safe in my hands, there's no real damage, right? Besides, I've done far nastier pranks on her, so this isn't even all that bad. This is like hiding her homework from her or something similar."

"...Just what could you have done that's actually more evil than this?" Weiss asked with a look of disbelief on her face. "What could possibly be worse than-"

"I once put a tarantula on her bed while she was sleeping," the blonde quickly replied, cutting off her teammate.

"...Never mind. That is actually far worse."

"Alright, so now that you have your plan all set, what exactly are you going to leave her with?" Blake asked. "Are you going to simply put up a text that says who did it?"

"Nah. That would be too simple. I'm thinking about leaving something that's going to leave an impression on her, and I might need your help with it," Yang answered. "I'm thinking something from one of your Ninjas Of Love books should do the trick."

"...I'm going to ignore the fact that you have somehow found out about the stuff I read for now," the cat faunus stated. "Why would I help out with-"

"I'll give you four times the tuna that I've already promised," the brawler quickly replied, before her partner could even finish her question. In a flash, Blake was sitting next to Yang, working on the blonde's newest project.

"This is too stupid and ridiculous for me. I'm leaving," Weiss said, wanting to have no part in what her two teammates were doing. Before she left, the heiress said one last thing, "Just to be clear, I had NO part in this at all, okay?"

"Oh, stop worrying so much, Weiss!" Yang said with a small grin. "This isn't going to be like my last plans! I doubt anything is going to go wrong this time!"

Little did the blonde girl know just how wrong she was.

* * *

Next day, Ruby was heading towards the workshop once again. However, this time, she wasn't heading there alone. The redhead actually had a whole class of young children around the age of seven years with her. These children were from one of Vale's Huntsman academies, where they would start on their journey into becoming the defenders of humanity. The class' teacher was also with them.

You see, the young team leader had been chose by the Beacon's teachers for a special task. She was going to show Beacon to the young potential Huntsmen and Huntresses in the hopes of making a great impression on them and hopefully getting more future students, along with spreading the word of Beacon's great quality. The reason as to why Ruby had been chose for this task was because of her impressive skills that had made her stand out among other students. Not only had she been allowed to join Beacon two years earlier than normal, but she had also kept up with the older and more experienced students, and was eventually even able to surpass pretty much all of them as well.

Being chosen to show around the school for potential future students was a great honor for Ruby, as it would certainly help her in her career in the future, which is why she immediately accepted the offer. So far, things had been going perfectly for the redhead. She had shown almost every part of Beacon, with the children being amazed by everything they saw. Now she just needed to show them their last stop, where she had even prepared something special to show the little guests.

"Ms. Rose, this has been a wonderful tour!" the teacher of the children said to the young guide with a smile on her face. "I honestly had my doubts at first, but I'm happy to say that they were completely unnecessary. I am going to make sure your headmaster hears about your great performance today."

"Thank you, ma'am," Ruby said politely. "However, there is still one more place left on the tour I planned for us and it's my favorite place in the whole school. I also have something special to show the kids there."

The redhead made it to the workshop with the group she was guiding and started to show the place to all the little children in the group. A happy smile spread over Ruby's face over seeing how excited and awestruck the members of her tour group seemed. Now she just needed to do one more thing and she would have completed the tour.

"Now, one of the best things about the workshop here is what you can do with the computers here," the young team leader said, as she turned on one of the computers and made some adjustments that would allow everything she was doing to be shown on a big screen for the whole group. "Beacon has the best possible weapon designing program on these computers, which allows you to work on upgrading your current weapon or to even make something completely new, if you feel like doing so."

Ruby opened up the program she was talking about and opened up one of the files she had been working on for some time now. The real reason she had been designing these weapons was not for the sake of actually building them for her own use, but to have something to show to her tour group today. When the redhead had suggested this to the teachers, they had all liked the idea, as it would show just how advanced their schools equipment was. Ruby herself had always loved weapons and liked working on them, so this not only allowed her to spend some time with one of her hobbies, but it also allowed her to show just how skilled she was. This whole thing was supposed to be the big finale for the tour.

Unfortunately, her plans had been ruined pretty badly.

Ruby had expected the children to make sounds of awe and wonder upon seeing her great weapon design. However, when all she received was silence, the redhead looked at the school's young guests and saw them all staring at the screen with their eyes as wide as possible. Ruby looked at the children's teacher and saw that the woman also had a rather strange expression on her face, although hers was one of absolute horror.

Unaware of what had caused such a reaction with her tour group, the young team leader turned to look at the screen she had set up to show her computer's monitor. Upon seeing what was on it, it was Ruby's turn to have her face change into an expression of horror. On the screen, showing the weapon designing program, was a very detailed model of five people in a rather "intimate" position with each other. And while we could give you a more detailed description of what was happening in the model, this story wouldn't be able to get away with it, even with a M-rating, so we leave the rest to your imagination. Just think of something that would require you to search for very specific things on the internet without the safe search, and could possibly get you arrested even.

It took a couple of seconds for Ruby's mind to get over the shock of what she had seen for her to try to fix what had happened. In a panic, the redhead quickly closed the file that she had opened and she started to go through the rest, hoping to find what she had actually been looking for. However, all she ended up finding were more similar models.

"MS. ROSE! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" the children's teacher yelled with a face red from anger. "HOW COULD YOU SHOW SUCH FILTH TO YOUNG CHILDREN!?"

"I-I-I-I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THIS!" Ruby apologized in a panic, while trying her best to fix the whole mess. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS HAPPENED! IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO GO LIKE THIS!"

The scythe-wielder then noticed something. There was a text file among all the files for the models, which wasn't there before. Hoping for it to give her some answers, Ruby opened it up. Upon reading what it said, her panic was quickly replaced with a new feeling, blinding rage.

The text file simply said:

_**Missing something? Come and get it from me!**_

_**-Yang ;)**_

"OH, YOU MOTHER-!"

* * *

Meanwhile in the city of Vale, the three older girls of team RWBY were sitting at a cafe, enjoying some coffee and cake, when they all could have sworn that they heard something. That something sounded very similar to their team leader, and she sounded like she was VERY pissed off.

"D-Did you guys hear that?" Blake asked with a slightly pale face.

"Blake, I felt that," Yang answered as the cup of coffee in her hands was shaking violently. _'How did I screw up this time!?'_

* * *

Later that night, the WBY were slowly and carefully making their way to their dorm. The reason for their slow approach was that they were afraid Ruby was in a bad mood, which was something they feared from the sound they had heard earlier that day. The three girls were hoping that if they arrived back at the dorm as late as possible, their angry team leader might have gone to sleep by then.

"S-Surely Rubes is asleep by now, right?" Yang asked nervously as she made her way towards their dorm's door. "T-There's no way that she would actually stay up this late for us, right?"

"I'm not sure," Blake answered fearfully. "It sounded like she was really angry. I wonder if she would even be able to fall asleep with that much anger."

"This is ridiculous! You two know that you can't avoid it, so why don't you just go inside already!?" Weiss asked in a frustrated tone. "Besides, you're the ones she wants! I don't have anything to worry about!"

"Really?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow. "Then mind explaining why you haven't just gone in the dorm already? Or better yet, if you're so safe, why are your knees shaking?"

"D-Don't judge me!" the heiress said with an embarrassed blush on her face. "I've seen how bad Ruby can be when she's angered, so I'm just worried about getting attacked on accident! I want her to at least get her hands on you two first, so I'll know that I'm safe!"

"Despite what she's saying, Weiss does have a point, Yang," Blake told her partner. "No matter what we do, we are going to have to face Ruby again. All we can hope is that she won't be too angry with us."

Knowing that the cat faunus was right, Yang let out a deep sigh and began to slowly open the door. Once it had been opened just a little bit, the three girls saw that the room was dark inside, which could mean that Ruby had gone to sleep. Relief washed over the WBY and they fully opened the door and started to make their way in, only for the lights to suddenly turn on and show them something truly terrifying.

Ruby was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room and she was staring at her teammates with a very angry look on her face.

"About time you three came back," the redhead said calmly, but one could easily hear the anger behind her voice. "Do you have any idea why I've been waiting for you? It has something to do with a recent prank by one of you. Care to take a guess what it was?"

"Umm... Rubes, I know what I out on that computer was... explicit, but you don't need to worry," Yang nervously explained, hoping that she could calm down the younger girl. "The files you had been working on are not lost at all. In fact, I have them safely stored-"

"I'm afraid it's a bit too late for that, Yang," Ruby said, cutting off the older girl and raising her voice a bit. "Those files you took are meaningless now. The only reason I worked on them was for this day only and you have completely ruined that. Would you like to guess what you've just managed to ruin with that little stunt you pulled?"

"W-W-What happened?" Blake asked, fearing the answer. "What were those weapon designs meant for?"

"I am very glad you asked! You see, I was chosen by the teachers to give a tour of Beacon to a group of young children, who are just starting their training to become Huntsmen," the redhead started to explain. "I believe they were at best seven years old, if even that. Now, this was obviously a great opportunity for me, when considering the future prospects it would open up for me. Now, do you have any idea what the last place I showed to those kids was? Or what special thing I had planned for them there?"

The WBY didn't answer the question, as their eyes went wide and their faces turned pale from realization. The three girls really hoped that they were wrong about where this story was going.

"I see that you three figured out what happened," Ruby said, noticing the looks on her teammates' faces. "The files for the weapon designs had been switched with your pornographic image. Would one of you mind explaining as to why in the hell did you do that?"

"IT WAS HER IDEA! SHE DID IT!" both Weiss and Blake yelled while pointing at Yang, hoping to escape their team leader's wrath.

"HEY! What the hell, you guys!? Why are you throwing me under the bus!? What happened to being friends and comrades!?" the blonde yelled back at the monochrome duo. "Besides, you helped me out, Blake!"

"DON'T DRAG ME DOWN WITH YOU!" the cat faunus screamed.

**"SHUT UP!"** Ruby yelled as loud as she could, silencing her teammates. The three older girls looked at their young leader and saw that her calm expression had changed into one of anger. "I don't care about ANY excuses right now! All I want is a goddamn explanation from you three! Now, can one of you give it to me!?"

"Ummm... Well... You see, Ruby... it was supposed to be a... prank," Yang answered while fearing what would happen next.

"...Excuse me?" the scythe-wielder asked in a deadpan voice. "Did you just say that it was a PRANK?"

"Y-Y-Yeah! It wasn't supposed to cause any harm at all!" the brawler explained. "I mean, we didn't know about-"

Yang's explanation was cut off by Ruby raising her hand in a sign that told the older girl to stop. With her three teammates silent, the redhead took a deep breath, before giving the older girls the most furious glare they had ever seen.

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?" Ruby practically roared with fury, now standing up from her chair. "YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT ONE OF THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES IN MY LIFE WAS RUINED BECAUSE OF A PRANK!? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE TELLING ME!?"

"I... guess?" Yang answered while shaking in terror. Both Weiss and Blake were hugging each other while shaking in fear. "Although, was it really that bad? I mean, surely you can get a chance like this again, right?"

"Oh, I highly doubt that, Xiao Long!" the young team leader began to rant. "Not only did I possibly traumatize those poor kids because of your little "prank", but their teacher made it very clear just how upset she was! Not only was I called a disgusting pervert, an incompetent fool and many other things, but she also demanded Ozpin that I would get expelled from Beacon! You have no idea just how furious she was with me! Luckily, I managed to explain the whole thing to Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch, who both thankfully believed me and decided to let me off slightly with this whole disaster! However, the class' teacher told me that she would tell all the other schools what had happened here today! This will certainly be a mark on my record that will stay with me for the rest of my life! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Rubes, I doubt it's going to-"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH! I have been through too much crap today for any of your lame excuses!" Ruby yelled, cutting off Yang. "With all the crap you've put me through these last few days, you leave me no choice but to do the one thing that will surely make you listen!"

"A-And what is that?" Yang asked.

Before any of the three older girls realized what had happened, the scythe-wielder used her Semblance to suddenly run up to the brawler, grab her, take her to the chair and had her lay on her stomach on her lap.

"W-What's going on?" Yang asked, wondering just what Ruby was planning. However, she couldn't help but feel like this was somehow familiar.

"Something dad used to do, when you were naughty," the redhead answered coldly.

The blonde's eyes went wide as she started to realize what was going on. Her fears were confirmed as she saw Ruby holding a belt in one of her hands that she was slowly raising up.

"Rubes... No!" Yang pleaded, but it was hopeless. Nothing was going to stop the younger girl.

Without mercy, Ruby began to spank the older girl with the belt, causing her to cry. This went on for some time with Yang's crying getting louder with each hit, while Ruby remained just as angry as she had been at the start.

Meanwhile, Weiss and Blake were watching their blonde teammate get her punishment, while shaking in fear. They were really glad that they had managed to avoid this.

Or so they thought.

"Woah... Ruby's really savage," Weiss said while watching her partner punish the brawler.

"Yeah... I sure am glad I managed to avoid this," Blake said.

"Don't get comfortable just yet, Blake!" Ruby yelled, having just finished Yang's punishment. "Because you're next!"

"Wait, wha-" the cat faunus began to ask, but was quickly put in the same situation her partner had just been in. Now it was Blake's turn to cry, while her team leader spanked her. "Hang on a second! I didn't anything! This was all Yang's work, not mine!"

"Oh, I know that Yang was the main culprit here, but you helped her!" Ruby yelled while continuing to spank the raven-haired girl. "I know for a fact that Yang doesn't know how to use the weapon designing program, so someone must have helped her! She even said it herself!"

"Serves you right, Blake..." Yang muttered while she continued to cry and rub her sore butt. "That's what you get for trying to throw me under the bus..."

"Well, it's good to see that at least I managed to avoid this," Weiss said.

"Your turn is next, Weiss!" Ruby yelled while still spanking Blake. "You knew about what they were doing and didn't tell me about it! You're just as guilty as they are!"

The heiress' face turned pale, as she could only wait for her turn to get punished.

* * *

A while later, Ruby was done with punishing her teammates, who were now all crying and tending to their sore behinds. With her work done, the young team leader walked up to the door and was just about to leave, but decided to give one last warning to her team.

"Let this be a lesson to you all. I am done with all the stupid stunts you idiots keep pulling. Keep this up and I swear it will only get worse," Ruby threatened her teammates. "Now, I'll be staying the night in team JNPR's dorm, because I'm still very pissed off with you three. I'm hoping that staying away from you for some time could calm down my anger at least a bit, so keep your distance from me."

After giving her warning, the redhead slammed the door behind her and walked away, leaving behind three older girls in tears.

"Yang, from now on, I don't care what you're planning, just don't tell me about it," Weiss said. "I don't want to risk getting dragged down with you again."

"Same here. This was not worth the tuna you promised me," Blake said.

Yang didn't bother responding to the comments of her two teammates. She was too busy being worried about herself at the moment. The blonde hoped that she would never had to go through such punishment ever again.

* * *

**Author's notes: And I'm back to doing this story again! Sorry for making you guys wait, but I really felt the need to take a break from this story. However, after getting so much support from you all, I decided to continue. Not only do I hold this story personally dear to me, but it's also becoming my second most popular story on this site, which I'm very surprised by.**

**However, I may have some bad news. I recently started studying, so I won't be able to work on my stories as much as I could not too long ago. I'm still determined to continue them and I hope to bring them to a finish. Just be prepared that I can't get updates on such a fast pace as I did some time ago.**

**Also, I do want to give a small apology to Coolgirl for the way I reacted to her previous comment. It just personally irked me a bit, since the idea that I should change the pairing because I've used it so often kind of got to me, when most RWBY fanfics seem to have pretty much the same pairings all time. I do understand the reasoning behind her request and others who also made it, but I'll say it here again that there won't be a change.**

**Anyways, I hope you guys liked the chapter and will check out the next one, when I get it done.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	10. Sticks And Carrots

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 10: Sticks And Carrots**

Over two weeks had passed since Ruby had given her tour that had gone horribly wrong and things had somewhat calmed down. While the redhead was keeping a good distance from her teammates and glaring at them, she wasn't completely hostile towards the three older girls either. The reason for that was the help Ruby had received from not only Ozpin, but the other teachers at Beacon as well. Since all of the school's professors were well-known Huntsmen and Huntresses, their words had a great effect on many things. Even if the teacher that had sworn to make Ruby's disastrous tour known to all other schools and Huntsmen associations did what she threatened to do, her words didn't have anywhere near the weight all of Beacon's staff did. The professors were more than aware of the problematic situation within team RWBY, so they made sure that the team leader's reputation wasn't going to be destroyed.

With her biggest worry having been taken care of, Ruby could somewhat calm down with her teammates. However, that didn't mean she wasn't angry with the older girls or that she would stop avoiding them like the plague. The WBY just could feel relieved that their young leader wasn't going to put them through hellish pain for their mistakes.

Right now, the members of team RWBY were in Glynda's combat class, waiting to be called down to a practice match. Ruby was sitting as far away from her team as possible, not willing to take any risks with her teammates. While everyone else was focused on the fight between Cardin and Nora down in the arena, Yang was focused completely on Ruby.

"What am I going to do?" the blonde asked with a sigh. "Everything I've tried so far has only backfired at me in the worst possible way and made things worse. Is there really nothing I can do anymore?"

"Well, what you could do for starters is focus on our class," Weiss said in a slightly angry tone. "Since you're not going to be putting all of us at risk with whatever dumb idea you get, you might as well try to learn something."

"Easier said than done, princess," Yang said back to her teammate along with giving her an angry glare. "The situation between me and Rubes is worse than ever before, yet you want me to waste my time watching Nora and Cardin fight? What am I supposed to learn from watching Nora hand Cardin his ass on a plate?"

"It's not good to underestimate others, Yang!" the heiress argued. "There's a chance that-"

"BREAK HIS LEGS!" Nora suddenly yelled down at the arena, cutting off the white-haired girl.

***CRUNCH!***

"OH GOD, MY LEGS!" Cardin cried out in pain.

"...Never mind. The point I'm trying to make is that you can't simply ignore your studies," Weiss continued. "I understand that your situation with Ruby weighs heavily upon you, but you can't just abandon everything else in your life for that."

"Besides, it's not like you can do anything right now, can you?" Blake added to her two teammates' conversation. "Considering what happened last time you tried something, I think it's best for you to avoid angering Ruby further. I'd say it's best to give her some time to calm down for now, before you approach her again."

"I guess you two are right," Yang said with a sad sigh. "I just can't help but feel that there might be a plan that-"

"NO," both Weiss and Blake said sternly at the same time while glaring at their blonde teammate.

"Yang, every plan and scheme you've tried so far has only backfired on you in the worst possible way! I think it's time you forget about those!" Weiss said angrily.

"...They all seemed like good ideas in the beginning."

Back down at the arena, Glynda had managed to get some medical personnel to take Cardin away. While she was somewhat upset that Nora had actually gone and broken a fellow student's legs during a practice match, she couldn't really get angry at the ginger girl. Not only were her students training in order to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, where injuries were very common, the students themselves should be prepared for the possibility of such injuries during combat, whether it was training or not. Not to mention, the blonde teacher would be lying, if she said that she didn't think that the brown-haired boy deserved what he got. Cardin's bullying was well-known not only by the students, but by the teachers as well. Sometimes, karma would come up without any proper warning.

"Alright, thank you for that skilled, although a bit brutal, display of your skills, Ms. Valkyrie," Glynda said to the ginger girl, who went to sit with her team while grinning widely. "Now, for the next match I would like to call two specific students down here. Could Ms. Rose and Ms. Nikos come here?"

Every student, with the exception of Ruby, went wide-eyed upon hearing the names their teacher had called. Pyrrha was easily the most skilled and famous student in the whole school due to being the Champion of Mistral, so having her face off against a single student seemed like ending a puppy against a full-grown lion. After all, the amazon was able to take on entire teams on her own without breaking a sweat, so this match-up seemed like a very bad idea. Ruby might be skilled, but no one considered her to be on Pyrrha's level.

"Umm... Professor Goodwitch? Are you sure you don't want our whole team down there?" Yang asked as she stood up, worried over Ruby's safety. "I mean, surely you must not mean that Ruby is going against Pyrrha on her own."

"Actually, I do want to have Ms. Rose fight against Ms. Nikos on her own," Glynda answered. "There is something I want to test out, so I've decided to have said two students go against each other."

"I-I must protest this!" the blonde girl yelled. "Having Ruby go against Pyrrha is not- OW!"

Yang's complaint was cut off by Ruby, who used her Semblance to suddenly appear next to the older girl, where she grabbed Yang's ear painfully and pulled it down, bringing it's owner with it.

"One more word out of your big mouth and I swear I'll shave your head bald. Understood?" the young team leader said in such an angry tone that it sent chills down the spines of everyone nearby. With her threat given, Ruby used her Semblance to go down to the arena and wait for her opponent.

"It seems Ms. Rose is more than willing to face off against Ms. Nikos," Glynda said with an almost invisible smirk on her face, as she was glad that her youngest student had put her most troublesome student in her place. "Now it all depends on Ms. Nikos, whether this match happens."

Pyrrha was still sitting on her seat, as her body was still frozen in shock from hearing who she was going to be fighting. It wasn't that the amazon thought of Ruby as a weak opponent. In fact, she was more than willing to admit that the scythe-wielder was quite possibly one of the strongest fighters around the whole school. However, she was still supposed to face against a girl that was two whole years younger than her. Ruby might be a prodigy that got accepted to Beacon early, but Pyrrha was still the Champion of Mistral. The amazon couldn't help but feel like her fighting against the young team leader was the same thing as bullying.

But despite how Pyrrha was seeing this fight as terribly one-sided, there was one feeling that prevented her from simply refusing the match. That feeling was pride. Ruby might have been younger and less experienced, but she was still ready to face against the most famous fighter in the whole school. If Pyrrha backed down now, how would everyone feel about it? Would they believe that the older redhead did it in order to not hurt the younger student? Or would they think she was afraid of Ruby? In the end, that was something the Champion of Mistral could not stand, and it was ultimately the one thing that helped her make a decision.

Grabbing her weapons, Pyrrha walked down to the arena, ready to face her opponent.

"Do not look down on me just because of my age," Ruby warned as she took out her scythe and got ready. "Not only will I never forgive you for that, but I'm certain you'll regret it."

"No worries. I won't do such a thing," Pyrrha said as she also got her stance ready.

All the students in the audience were holding their breaths as they waited for the match to start. Especially the other members of teams RWBY and JNPR. However, while Pyrrha's teammates were somewhat excited to see their teammate in action, Ruby's teammates were shaking with nervousness and fear, worrying over their young team leader.

The one who was the most worried was Yang, who wanted to do nothing but dash down into the arena and stop the match. If it wasn't for Ruby's threat, she would have most likely done that as well.

With both both combatants at the ready, Glynda raised her hand and brought it down, starting the match between the two prodigies.

* * *

**(About two and a half minutes later.)**

"I GIVE! I GIVE! UNCLE! UNCLE!" one of the two fighters screamed while furiously tapping one of their hands on the floor, signaling that they had given up.

However, while most would have expected that the girl who would be giving up to be Ruby, the truth was completely different. It was Pyrrha who was surrendering, as she had been bested by the younger redhead.

Thanks to Ruby knowing about her opponent's Semblance, she had actually decided not to rely on her weapon, which was something no one had predicted. Instead of using her scythe the way she usually did, Ruby actually threw her weapon at Pyrrha with all of her might. This move had caught the amazon completely off-guard, which prevented her from being able to avoid the oncoming weapon with her Semblance alone. With the combination of her shield and her Semblance, Pyrrha had somehow been able to block the attack.

However, that had simply been nothing but a distraction from Ruby, as she used the brief moment where her opponent wasn't looking at her to use her Semblance. With the speed of her special ability, the young team leader had quickly made her way behind Pyrrha, where she delivered a very strong punch to the older redhead's side. Pyrrha tried to strike back with her sword, but only managed to hit a couple of rose petals that were left behind by the younger girl's Semblance.

By pushing her ability to it's maximum, Ruby managed to speed around Pyrrha in such a way that the amazon couldn't properly fight back, while the young team leader kept throwing punches and kicks at her helpless opponent. While her strikes weren't the most powerful, Ruby managed to connect a lot of them at a fast rate, which quickly drained Pyrrha's Aura.

With most of her Aura gone due to the team leader's barrage of punches and kicks, the champion was left dazed and practically defenseless. Pyrrha still tried to fight back and swung her sword at her opponent, but the attack was easily dodged. It was at this moment that Ruby decided to end their sparring match by grabbing the older girl's arm and sweeping her legs off the floor, bringing Pyrrha down. With a good hold on her opponent's arm, the young team leader began to bend it in a very painful manner, causing Pyrrha to cry out from the pain.

Since her Aura and her stamina had been pretty much spent, the amazon was left with no means to put up a proper struggle anymore. At this point, Ruby could easily break her arm, if the younger girl wanted to, which led to Pyrrha surrendering.

"The winner is Ruby Rose!" Glynda declared with a proud smile on her face, happy to see how much her youngest student had improved.

All the students were in awe of what they had just witnessed, especially the members of team RWBY and team JNPR. No one could fully believe what they had just witnessed. The famous "Invincible Girl" had just been utterly defeated by a girl that was two years younger than her. Yet as impossible as it seemed, it didn't change the fact that Glynda had just announced Ruby as the winner or the fact that it was Pyrrha who was laying on the floor in defeat.

"Did... Did that just happen?" Weiss asked with wide eyes. "Did Ruby just actually beat Pyrrha in a match?"

"I think "beat" might not be a suitable term for what we just saw," Blake said to the heiress. "I think "humiliate" might be more fitting."

"Wow... Just wow," Yang said in awe, but the corners of her mouth were tilted upwards a bit in a small smile. "I-I knew Rubes was tough, but I never could have imagined THIS. Just when did she learn unarmed combat skills? I always thought that she hated them!"

Back down at the arena, both Ruby and Pyrrha were starting to make their way to their seats, but the younger girl was suddenly stopped by Glynda.

"Ms. Rose, would you mind and stay after class for a while?" the blonde teacher asked. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Of course, Professor Goodwitch," Ruby replied. "What is it about?"

"Let's talk about it once all the other students have left, alright?" Glynda said and then went to dismiss her other students, allowing them to leave.

However, while most of the other students had left, Yang had still stayed behind. Both Glynda and Ruby were staring at the blonde girl, wondering what she wanted.

"Ummm... R-Ruby? I saw your... you know... moves, during your fight with Pyrrha, and it got me thinking," Yang began to say nervously, stumbling over her words the whole time. "Would you like to go and maybe spar with me? I'd like to see how you'd do against me in an unarmed match, and maybe I could teach you some tricks or something. How about it?"

"Thanks for the offer, Yang, but I'm not in the mood for that," Ruby replied with a frown, still very upset with the older girl. "Maybe some other time."

"Oh... Okay," the brawler said in a saddened tone from having her offer rejected. "M-Maybe some other time?"

"We'll just have to wait and see if that ever happens," the redhead said sternly, clearly not happy to talk with the older girl.

Yang was about to speak up again, but was cut off by Glynda this time.

"Ms. Xiao Long, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave now. I have some very important business to speak about with Ms. Rose and we need some privacy for that," the witch said in a tone that left no room for an argument. "Besides, I think you might want to give Ms. Rose some space, considering some of the recent things you've done."

Seeing as there was nothing she could really do, Yang's shoulders slumped down in defeat and she walked away, leaving her team leader and teacher alone.

"So, Professor Goodwitch, what was it that you needed to talk about with me?" Ruby asked. "It's not anything bad, is it?"

"Oh, of course not! You have been doing wonderfully well in all of your classes!" Glynda said happily. "You have actually been doing so well that all of the professors of this school have taken notice of it. In fact, there might be a great opportunity for you in the near future."

"Really?" the student asked with a hint of excitement in her voice. "What is it?"

"I'm afraid that is something to be discussed later. We still would like to test you out on one little thing first," the teacher answered. "You see, while your own grades have risen tremendously and past everybody else, your teammates' grades have been dropping, especially Ms. Xiao Long's. What we want to see now is if you can fix that and prove yourself as a team leader."

"And... how do I do that?" Ruby asked while somewhat dreading the answer.

"That's simple. On Professor Port's next test, I want all of your team's members to get over 90 % of the total score. If you are able to make that happen, I promise you that there will be a great opportunity waiting for you."

"...I'll see what I can do," the redhead replied in a low tone, showing her doubts about the whole thing. _'This isn't going to end well, is it?'_

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of team RWBY were in their dorm, waiting for their leader to arrive. Weiss and Blake were sitting on the heiress' bed, looking over Yang, who was sitting on the cat faunus' bed with her head hanging low from depression. Ever since the three girls had gotten out of Goodwitch's class, the blonde girl had been in a very sad mood, which the other two girls guessed was caused by Ruby somehow.

"Yang, don't get so down, okay?" Blake said, hoping to cheer up her partner. "I know that things are... bad between you and Ruby, but you shouldn't let it get you down like this. You will have a chance of making things right with her. You just need to wait for the right opportunity. That's all."

"I know. I just that I wish I could get the opportunity sooner, you know?" Yang said with a sad sigh. "I mean, how could I miss Rubes building up her hand-to-hand combat skills like that? How did she even learn all of that? I remember trying to teach her some of my moves, but it never really clicked with her. Even then, I always imagined that I would be the first person she would go to for advice on that field. Seeing how she somehow found a way to learn without me makes me feel like she doesn't need me anymore."

"You shouldn't think like that. I'm certain she still cares about you a lot. It's just that some of things that she's been through are kind of fresh in her mind," Weiss said, trying to comfort her teammate. "Just give her some space to calm down and I'm sure you can go for it later, okay? Besides, now you have something to hopefully bond over with her."

"I get that, but I just had my event mark and totally blew it. I'm not sure if I can get another one."

There was a moment of silence as Weiss and Blake looked at each other, before turning their attention back towards Yang.

"Event mark?" both girls asked at the same time.

"Yeah! You know how in RPG's there are markers showing where the quests are?" the brawler explained. "Me getting a chance to bond over hand-to-hand combat skills with Ruby was definitely something like that! Only this time it doesn't stay there forever, like in games..."

"...You play too many video games, Yang," Weiss said with a sigh. "Anyways, you just need to be patient and wait. It's not like Ruby is going to just march through that door and give you a chance to-"

Before the heiress could finish speaking, the door to the dorm was suddenly opened by none other than Ruby. The young team leader's face was red and twisted in a frown, almost like she was angry about something.

"R-Ruby?" Yang managed to say, being the first one of the three older girls to break out of her shock. "W-What is-"

"Zip it, Yang. I've got something to say to you all and I need you to listen. Not talk. Understood?" Ruby said sternly in a tone that immediately silenced her teammates, who only nodded in response. "Alright. We all know that things have been rather difficult between us, correct? However, right now, I need all three of you for something and I am not about to take no for an answer."

The three older girls simply nodded again, afraid of possibly angering the younger girl by speaking. However, even when they were scared of Ruby, they were curious as to what she needed them for so suddenly.

"You do know that we are going to have test from Port very soon, right?" the scythe-wielder began. "Well, the thing is that I REALLY need you three to do something for me. I need all of you to study like your lives depended on it and get at least 90 % on that test. Got it?"

Weiss and Blake looked at each other in confusion. They had no idea as to why Ruby would suddenly ask something like this from, especially with everything that had been going on. It honestly didn't make sense for them, as the redhead hadn't cared about her teammates' studies at all ever since her change in attitude.

However, while the monochrome duo was wondering what this was all about, Yang's body was trembling. There was one feeling going through the blonde's body over what she just heard and that was excitement. Just moments ago, she had been worrying about Ruby not needing her, yet here they were with the younger girl saying that she needed Yang.

Well, Ruby actually needed ALL of her teammates and not just Yang, but that was a minor detail that the brawler didn't care about at the moment. The fact was that she was needed by the young team leader and Yang was not going to let this chance go to waste. Now she just needed something to truly get motivated for this and she would make sure that the WBY would all fulfill Ruby's wish.

"Now, I know that I'm asking for a lot, so I'm ready to repay your efforts, alright?" Ruby said, which made Yang's eyes light up. "Now, I know I can't get some of the things you guys really like, but I can at least get you-"

"Say no more, Rubes!" Yang suddenly yelled excitedly, surprising everyone. "I'll make sure that we'll get the test results you need, so don't worry!"

"Wha- I mean- Sure?" the redhead stumbled on her words, having been caught off-guard by the older girl's sudden response. "But for the reward, I was-"

Ruby didn't get a chance to finish, as Yang grabbed hold of both Weiss and Blake before running out of the dorm, leaving only a dust cloud behind. The young team leader could only stare at the door that was left open in silence.

"...Is this going to be alright?"

* * *

Back with the WBY, Yang was running down the hallways while dragging her two teammates behind her. Despite Weiss and Blake screaming from both pain and anger, the brawler didn't even slow down a bit. The only thing that was on her mind was her newest chance with Ruby and she was not going to miss it, no matter what she had to do.

The three girls soon got into the library, where Yang placed her two teammates on chairs at a table before running to get the books they would need. In a couple of seconds, the blonde returned with a huge pile of books that she placed on the table, before taking a seat at the table as well.

"Alright, ladies, let's get to work!" Yang declared with enthusiasm. "It's time we show Rubes what we're made of!"

Weiss and Blake gave each other a confused look, before turning their attention back to the brawler. Both girls were hunched over the table and holding different spots on their bodies that were in pain from being dragged across the floor.

"Are you saying that you put both of us through hell just so that we could have a STUDY SESSION?" Weiss asked with barely contained anger. "Have you ever heard about asking!?"

"Didn't have the time for questions! The situation is critical and we needed action!" Yang argued while grabbing one of the books and opening it. "Now each one of us needs to grab a book and get to work! We only have a week until Port's test, so we need to effectively use all the time we have!"

"...I never thought I'd see the day YOU would be excited to study," Blake said with a sigh and took one of the books for herself. "Mind telling us exactly why you're this hyped up?"

"Well, that's obvious! You remember how Ruby said we would get something for us, if we managed to get 90 % in the test, right?" the blonde asked, getting a nod from both of her teammates. "Isn't it obvious what that is? After all this time that we have been trying to get Rubes to hang out with us, she must be offering her time as our reward! This is the perfect chance for me to fix things between her and I, and I am not going to miss it!"

"How can you be sure that's what Ruby is going to give us upon accomplishing this task of hers?" Weiss asked while she started to study as well. "While she did mention a reward, we didn't actually hear what it was. You might be jumping to conclusions here."

"Oh please! What else could she be offering to us?" Yang said confidently. "Now, enough talking! Get to work, ladies!"

Weiss and Blake shared one last look, before letting out sighs and getting to work. The two girls could feel that this wasn't going to end well once again.

* * *

The three older girls of team RWBY had been working for about two hours straight, when Weiss felt the need to take a small bathroom break. She began to get up from seat, when suddenly a painfully strong grip took hold of her arm and held her in place. The heiress looked who was holding her and felt her blood run cold upon seeing Yang stare at her with angry red eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" the blonde asked in a tone that sent shivers down Weiss' spine. "Do you have any idea how much I've got riding on this test? If even one of us fails to meet Ruby's expectations, I can kiss my golden chance goodbye! What makes you think it's okay for you to leave in the middle of our study session!?"

"S-Shouldn't it be ME who demands people to stay in study sessions? How did we suddenly switch places?" the heiress managed to ask, despite being terrified of her teammate. "Besides, I'm just going to the bathroom, so I'll be back soon enough. Could you let me go?"

"Absolutely not! Every wasted second takes us further away from our goal! I can't allow a single distraction!" Yang answered sternly. "However, if you really have to go, I do have something that could help you out."

Before Weiss could ask what the brawler meant, an empty glass jar was suddenly offered to her by the taller girl. It didn't take long for the white-haired girl to realize what her teammate was suggesting.

"...Okay, first of all, why do you have that?" Weiss asked while staring at the jar with a somewhat disgusted look on her face.

"I like to carry an empty container of some sort with me at almost all times. That way I'm ready to put stuff in it for whatever prank I happen to think of," Yang answered.

"Second, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" the fencer yelled with her face red. "Are you really suggesting that I should use THAT in the middle of the library!? Who do you think I am!?"

Before the arguing could continue between the two girls, they were both hit on top of their heads with books. They turned to look at Blake, who was holding said objects in her hands and had a look of irritation on her face.

"Alright, before you two decided to destroy the library over a glass jar, mind if I step in to give you some much needed advice?" the cat faunus asked with a sigh. "Instead of using that jar, how about we are allowed to go and use the bathroom? Not only is the method you're suggesting highly disturbing, Yang, but it could also backfire on us. If any of the staff found out about it, we would get kicked out of the library, which would hinder our studies way more than a simple break ever could. Okay?"

Blake's reasoning seemed to calm down Yang somewhat and let Weiss go to the restroom. While she might not have liked it, the brawler had to allow that much of a break from studies.

It didn't take long for Weiss to return and go back to studying, which satisfied Yang. Now the blonde hoped that there would be no more interruptions in their work.

However, Yang's wish was not going to be fulfilled, as Blake felt the need to leave next. This was because the raven-haired girl hadn't eaten all that much during lunch, so she was now feeling very hungry. She was about to stand up, but was pushed back down on her seat very forcefully. Blake looked behind her to see the angry red eyes of her partner stare down at her.

"And where do you think you're going!?" Yang asked with barely contained anger. "This study session is very important to me, so you better have a good reason for leaving!"

"I-I just need to get something to eat! That's all!" the cat faunus said fearfully. "I haven't had any lunch at all today, so I'm starving! Surely you're willing to allow me go pick up something from the cafeteria, right!? It won't take long!"

"Oh, sure! You're just going to "quickly pick up something"!" the blonde said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "First you'll waste time by going to cafeteria as slowly as possible, then you'll spend a good long time looking at the menu and in the end you just order yourself a whole feast that you'll spend hours on eating! Do you really think I'll fall for that!?"

"What kind of a person do you think I am!?" Blake asked angrily. "Besides, it's true that I need food! I'm starving!"

"Alright, I'll help fix that problem of yours!" Yang said and took something out of her pocket, which she gave to her partner. "I was planning to use this later, so you better be grateful for this!"

Blake looked at what the brawler was offering to her and saw that it was a piece of candy.

"Yang, a single piece of candy is hardly going to satisfy my hunger! I need actual food!" the raven-haired girl argued.

"Well, tough luck for you then! This is all you're getting, so take it or leave it!" the blonde said while still holding the candy in front of her partner.

Blake looked at the treat that Yang was offering her with a disapproving look, not liking the idea that it would be her lunch. Unfortunately, one look into the blonde's eyes told the cat faunus that she was not going to win this argument. Yang was completely set on having her teammates fully participate this study sessions with as few interruptions as possible, so there would be no proper lunch today for Blake.

The raven-haired girl grumbled under her breath something about "dumb blondes" and grabbed the piece of candy that was offered to her. Seeing as how everything had been settled, Yang went back to her seat to study.

However, the WBY's study session was once again interrupted as Blake decided to actually eat the candy. Almost as soon as she had put the treat in her mouth, the raven-haired girl's face turned red and she started to sweat a lot. This was soon followed by Blake spitting out the candy from her mouth and then starting to cough violently, as if to get something out of her throat.

"Yang, what the hell was THAT!?" the cat faunus asked angrily as she continued to cough. "It felt like someone put a crystal of Fire Dust in my mouth! What sort of candy was that supposed to be!?"

"Extra spicy chili pepper candy. What else?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What did you think it was?"

"Oh, I don't know! How about something sweet, nice and tasty, LIKE CANDY IS SUPPOSED TO BE!?" Blake yelled at her partner. "Why would you offer that to me as a replacement for lunch!?"

"Because it was the only edible thing I had!" the blonde argued. "I'm sorry if I'm not carrying food with me on all times, but you wanted something to eat and I gave it to you! I don't see how I'm the villain, since I can eat them just fine!"

The raven-haired girl was about to jump over the table and go strangle her partner, but a hand that grabbed her arm stopped her from doing it.

"Let it go for now. It's best for us to just try and bear with it, until she allows us to leave," Weiss said, hoping to calm down her teammate. "We will save ourselves from a lot of trouble, if we just go with it for now."

As much as she hated to admit it, Blake knew the heiress had a point. Whenever Yang got into a mood like this, there was no stopping her. All they could hope was that the blonde girl wouldn't go too far.

Unfortunately, neither Weiss or Blake had any idea just how far their blonde teammate would go.

* * *

Three days later, Ruby was heading towards the library, hoping to get her hands on a couple of books that she wanted to read. Ever since she had asked her teammates to get a 90 % score on Port's next test, the redhead had been barely seeing any of the three older girls. This was something she welcomed, as it gave her more peaceful time to spend on her hobbies without the threat of being interrupted.

However, upon reaching the library, Ruby saw something that was a bit surprising. Her three teammates were all sitting around one of the tables, studying. At first, the young team leader thought about joining the trio on their study session, but decided against it when she saw the state her teammates were in. All three older girls' eyes were bloodshot and had bags underneath them, like they hadn't slept for days. The three girls also had some rather disturbing expressions on their faces, which seemed to be a mixture of exhaustion, anger, concentration and madness. The WBY overall looked very tired and unclean, like they hadn't moved from their spots for days. But the most disturbing thing that Ruby noticed were the shackles around the ankles of Weiss and Blake that attached them to their chairs.

"...Yeah, I think I'll pass on the library for today," Ruby said to herself before turning around and walking away.

* * *

Eventually, the awaited day of Port's test came and all four members of team RWBY took it. Upon completing it, the three older girls of the team collapsed from exhaustion that came from their extreme study sessions. Luckily for them, the trio only needed a couple days of rest before they were completely okay again.

After a little more time had passed, the day of Port's tests being returned came upon them. While all students were eagerly waiting to see how well they did, none were as eager as the WBY. Yang was praying in her mind that they all got at least 90 % of the score, so she could get her much awaited chance with Ruby, while Weiss and Blake hoped the same thing the blonde did, except for a different reason. They were afraid of what Yang might do, if one of them failed to get the result they needed.

As Port made his way around the classroom, handing out papers to the students they belonged to, he failed to notice the intense stares he was getting from the WBY. Only when he walked up to the three girls did he notice the way he was being stared at, and it honestly disturbed him somewhat. The trio reminded him of Beowolves that were ready to jump at their prey upon the slightest movement.

Without saying even a word, the teacher handed his three students their tests, which were quickly taken from his hand. With the delivery completed, Port made his way to the next student as fast as possible, leaving the WBY to look over their results.

"Well, I won't be the one to disappoint Ruby. I managed to get 94 %," Blake said with a sigh of relief. "How about you guys?"

"I got 96 %, so I'm good," Weiss said with a smile.

However, when they didn't hear an answer from Yang, the monochrome duo grew worried. They looked at their teammate, whose face was hidden behind her test paper, hoping to hear a positive response from her as well. After a couple of seconds of waiting, Yang turned to look at her two teammates with a smiling face and a single tear falling from her eye, while showing a paper of 91 % score.

"I did it, guys..." the blonde said happily. "I actually managed to achieve the goal set by Rubes! Do you guys know what this means!?"

Both Weiss and Blake nodded. It was time they went to collect their prize from their team leader.

Meanwhile, Ruby was looking over her own test, focusing on the things she got wrong. Even when she got a 99 % score, the redhead hoped to find out how she could improve herself.

However, Ruby's time looking over her answers was suddenly interrupted by someone tapping her on the shoulder. She turned to look who it was and saw her teammates standing there, holding up their tests for their leader to see with big smiles on their faces.

"We did it, Rubes! We all got over 90 %!" Yang said happily. "You do remember your promise with us, right?"

"I sure do," Ruby replied, somewhat surprised by how well her teammates had done. To be honest, she had not expected all three of the older girls to do so well. "I did promise a prize for you three and I'm not about to break it."

The three older girls held their breath as they waited for the prize their team leader had promised for them. It was time for them to be repaid for all the hard work they had gone through the past week. The thing they had earned through hellish study sessions. Just what could it be?

Suddenly, Ruby pulled out three lollipops out of her pocket and handed them to Yang. The blonde stared at the sugary treats with a dumbfounded expression on her face, hoping that this wasn't the reward the younger girl had promised them.

"R-Rubes... don't tell me... Are THESE our reward?" Yang asked while staring at the lollipops.

"They sure are," Ruby answered without any hesitation. "I know for a fact that all of you like candy, so I decided to get those for you three."

"What kind of a reward is this supposed to be for all the work we did!?" Weiss asked angrily. "We studied like crazy and THIS is all we get for it!? Are you insulting us or something!?"

"Well, to be perfectly fair, I never got to make any offers for the reward, as you guys took off before I could make any," the redhead said with a shrug. "At that point, I believe you guys had already agreed to the deal, so I wasn't really bound to giving you anything specific."

The three older girls wanted to deny their team leader's claim, but realized that they couldn't. Thanks to Yang dragging them to the library so suddenly, they never had a chance to strike a proper deal with Ruby. In all honesty, the scythe-wielder wasn't even really obligated to reward them in any way at all.

"Now that my end of the bargain has been fulfilled, I'm off to the library," Ruby said as she started to head towards the classroom's exit. "I've got some more studying to do and I don't want to be disturbed."

The WBY stood in stunned silence as their team leader left. It took some time before any of the three girls said anything.

"Well, that didn't go as well as planned, but I guess it wasn't all bad," Blake said to her partner, hoping to cheer her up at least a bit. The cat faunus also took the wrapping off her lollipop and put it in her mouth. "While you certainly didn't get the "chance" you were hoping for, you at least managed to keep Ruby happy. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure this is your best test result in a long while."

"...You really think that makes me feel any better?" Yang asked and turned to look at her partner. "Not only did I completely miss another great opportunity, it was all because of my own mistake. Just what am I supposed to do now?"

"I have an idea," Weiss said and walked up to the nearest wall, where she then drew a large "X" mark on it with a black marker. "I'm pretty sure you know what to do with this, Yang."

Before Blake could ask what the heiress meant, the blonde walked up to the wall and proceeded to bang her head on the mark Weiss had drawn on it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ozpin was sitting in his office with all of the teachers around him. The headmaster was reading through reports from all of them regarding Ruby's latest progress in her studies. There was also one paper that Ozpin had read carefully through that was a petition from the teachers for something quite extraordinary.

"Are you all certain of this?" the silver-haired man asked the teachers. "You are all willing to go through with this?"

"We certainly are," Port answered with a smile on his face. "Ms. Rose has shown incredible progress, which calls for us to put her to a more challenging test. This way we can see just how skilled she truly is."

"Even you are supporting this, Glynda?" Ozpin asked from his closest associate.

"I'll admit that I had my doubts about this at first, but I have changed my mind since then," the blonde woman answered with a small smile. "Besides, what harm could there be to this? After all, we already have a perfect team ready for this."

Seeing as how none of teachers were backing down or even had any doubts, the headmaster let out a tired sigh and gave in to their request.

"Alright then. Contact team LION. Tell them that they will be having a temporary new member joining their group."

* * *

**Author's notes: Sorry this took so long. This chapter turned out longer than I had expected, so it took me quite a while to get it done. However, it's here and hopefully you enjoyed it.**

**At first, I was going to have Ruby give her teammates tickets to a club as a prize, but I decided to go with this instead. Not only do I feel like this was funnier, but having Ruby get her hands on club tickets would raise many questions, like how she was able to get them despite her age.**

**Now, there are some things that need to be addressed. First, I want to address Yang's behavior that seems to have been a problem to quite a few of you. I would like to start by saying that I am in no way saying that the things she does in this story are okay in any way. They are just meant to be there to make this story more entertaining and I understand if people have a problem. However, when it comes to changing the pairing or changing things at all, that won't be happening. Not only am I fairly sure that there are people who don't want to see changes, but this is the way I personally want this story to play out. Also, when it comes to Yang (along with Weiss and Blake) realizing their mistakes and working towards making things better, that's something that will happen later. It's something reserved for when this story starts to be near it's end, so you'll have to wait for it.**

**Second, since I am certain that people are going to mention it in the reviews, let me just explain my reasoning for the fight between Ruby and Pyrrha. Not only was the "fight" supposed to be somewhat humorous and to show how skilled Ruby has gotten, this story is not meant to have intense and long action scenes. This chapter is already long enough without me making a huge fight scene in it.**

**As for what Glynda promised Ruby and the identity of team LION, those things will be shown in the next chapter. I will say one thing that I'm sure some of you have already guessed. Team LION is a team completely made by me, so they are OC's. Be prepared for that.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	11. A New Friend

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 11: A New Friend**

Two days had passed since team RWBY's latest incident and the four members of said team were currently in class, listening to Oobleck's lecture on the history of Vale. The four members of RWBY were once again seated in a similar way that they had been for some time now, with Ruby staying as far away as possible from her teammates, while the three older girls were sitting next to each other.

While most members of team RWBY were trying their best to listen to Oobleck's lecture, one of the four girls wasn't. Yang's mind was too preoccupied with the current situation between herself and Ruby, which hadn't really gotten any better. Even if the blonde had kept her promise and gotten a good score on Port's last test, like Ruby had wanted, it hadn't really improved the relationship between the two girls. While the redhead seemed to have calmed down somewhat with her teammates, she was still being very distant towards them. In all honesty, Yang was slowly starting to lose hope on fixing this whole mess, as she couldn't think of anything to do that would help.

_'I just don't know what to do anymore! I have tried everything I could, but all I've done is make things worse!'_ the brawler thought to herself desperately. _'There has to be something I can do, but what!? What can I do to make things right at this point!?'_

Yang was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by Oobleck announcing that the class was over, along with giving her students their homework for the next lesson. The blonde began to put away her things, when the green-haired teacher suddenly spoke up again.

"Would the members of team RWBY mind and stay here for a while?" Oobleck asked the four girls. "There is something important I wish to discuss with you all."

The three older girls looked at each other in confusion, wondering what this was all about. They also looked at their team leader, hoping that she might know something, but saw that she was just as confused as they were.

The four members of team RWBY walked up to their teacher's desk and waited for the other students to leave. Once everyone else had left, Oobleck began to speak to them.

"Now, I'm sure you are all wondering why I needed you to stay here. The reason for that is because the teachers, including myself, want to make a small experiment of sorts," the caffeine addict began to explain. "This experiment especially concerns your team's leader, Ms. Rose."

The WBY went wide-eyed upon hearing what their teacher had said and looked at Ruby in surprise. The redhead herself seemed to be quite surprised as well.

"An experiment concerning me? What is that about?" Ruby asked. "Have I done something bad?"

"Oh heavens, of course not!" Oobleck quickly said. "In fact, you have been performing extremely well lately! So well that you have jumped far ahead of every other student that is on their first year here! To be honest, you are performing so good that we would like to put your skills on a special test!"

"Really?" the scythe-wielder wondered with a hint of excitement in her voice. "What is this test exactly?"

"That is something I would like to discuss with you as soon as another person I've called here arrives. This happens to concern her greatly as well," the green-haired man explained, before there was a sudden knock on the classroom door. "Speak of the devil! That must be her!"

Oobleck quickly went to the door and opened it, revealing a girl that was older than any of team RWBY's members. The girl was very tall, only about a head shorter than Yatsuhashi. She had long red hair that reached her back and bright green eyes. For her clothing, she was wearing a black jacket without sleeves, black elbow-length gloves, white pants and black high-heeled boots. On her head she was wearing a black hat with a very wide rim.

"Hello, Professor Oobleck," the girl greeted the teacher. "I'm sorry if I'm late. I got a bit hung up with my teammates."

"You are not late at all. I understand that your own schedule and other problems could delay your arrival," Oobleck said with a smile, as he let the red-haired girl into the room. "In fact, you came just at the right time! I just got to the part where I needed you to be present here!"

The professor walked up to team RWBY with the newly-arrived redhead. The four young students were all staring at this new person with curiosity, wondering who she was and why she was there.

"Ladies of team RWBY, I would like introduce you to Elaine Lambert. She is a third-year student here in Beacon and the leader of team LION," Oobleck said. "Ms. Lambert, these are the four members of team RWBY. The young girl in red is their team leader, Ruby Rose. The white-haired one is-"

"Hang on a second here!" Elaine suddenly said, cutting off the teacher. "Did you just say Ruby Rose? As in THE Ruby Rose?"

"The one and only," the green-haired man answered with a smile. "I believe you have heard quite a bit about her."

"Oh, I certainly have!" the older redhead said in an excited voice, before turning her attention to Ruby. Elaine had a big smile on her face, as she offered a hand to the younger team leader. "Hello, Ruby! It's great to finally get to meet you! I have heard A LOT about you!"

"Uhhh... Thank you," Ruby said awkwardly as she shook the older girl's hand. She was somewhat shocked by the way Elaine had reacted to finding about her identity.

Meanwhile, the scythe-wielder's teammates were looking at the two team leaders with both surprise and confusion. The way Elaine was acting was almost like Ruby was some sort of a celebrity.

"Any idea what this is about?" Blake asked her two teammates in confusion.

"Nope," Weiss answered. "But it seems like this Elaine person knows about Ruby without Ruby herself knowing about her."

Yang didn't say anything as she simply continued to stare at the two team leaders. On the outside, the blonde seemed to be completely calm, even if a bit confused, but the truth was completely different. On the inside, Yang had two emotions raging in her, trying to overcome the other one. On one hand, she felt happy that Ruby was apparently being recognized for her skills. However, the way Elaine was acting with the younger redhead was causing something similar to jealousy to bubble within the brawler. She guessed that this was simply because her relationship was no longer what it used to be with Ruby, but she couldn't help but feel that there was more to it.

"You have no idea how excited I am about this!" Elaine said happily to the younger team leader. "I can't wait for us to get to work together!"

"Wait, what? Work together?" Ruby asked and turned to look at Oobleck. "What is she talking about, Professor?"

"You see, Ms. Rose, the studies third and fourth-year students do here is quite different from first and second-years," the caffeine addict began to explain. "One of the things that is different is how they occasionally have to work with younger students like yourself. Depending on the situation, an older student might take a single younger student or an entire team under their wing for a short period of time. This is so the older students get experience in guiding others and being an influence to others, while the younger students get to observe more skilled students closer."

"Since Huntsmen and Huntresses are essentially some of the most influential people you can find, it's important for us to learn how to behave around those who might look up to us," Elaine explained further. "This whole experience also allows people like you to learn more in order to improve your own abilities further."

"I see... That does make sense," the younger team leader said. "However, could you explain what you mean by hearing a lot about me? I don't mean to sound rude, but I can't understand why a third-year student like yourself would know about me."

"That's actually quite simple! While we third and fourth-year students are completing our studies, we are fully aware of the fact that we have to eventually work with younger students at some point. Not only that, but our teachers keep sending us reports on the students that we will be working with in the future, so we know what to expect," the older team leader answered. "When the time comes for us to pick students or teams to work with, it becomes a "first come, first served" situation, where the fastest ones get the best students and teams. Out of all the first-year students, you're the one that everyone is talking about the most. I wouldn't be surprised if you even had a fan club or something."

"Huh!?" Ruby exclaimed in shock. "H-How is that possible!?"

"Why wouldn't it be possible?" Elaine said with a small grin. "You've made quite an impression on everyone by just how you got into this school! It takes some serious skills to get accepted here two years in advance, and after that you've just kept making a name for yourself. Not only have your grades been among some of the top students, despite you skipping two grades, but lately you've actually shot past every other first-year student! The only other person that was as known as you was Pyrrha Nikos, and we have heard that you absolutely wiped the floor with her in a match! You're pretty much a celebrity among us third and fourth-year students!"

The scythe-wielder could only stand still on shock at what she had just heard. Never before in her life had she ever considered herself to be popular in any way, as she was always more of a lonely geek among her peers. Yet not only was she now talking to someone that was excited simply by meeting her, but that person was also an older student and claimed that there were others like her, who admired Ruby. The young redhead had never believed that anything like this would ever be possible.

The sound of someone clearing their throat suddenly got the attention of the two redheads. They turned to look where the sound came and saw Weiss standing there, standing in a "proper" way that was most likely taught to her since childhood.

"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but might I ask if I'm also being talked about among the older students?" the heiress asked with a small smile, expecting to hear praise for her skills. "Seeing as how I'm Ruby's partner, I expect that I'm also mentioned quite often among third and fourth-year students, such as yourself."

"...Who are you again?" Elaine asked, shattering Weiss' expectations.

"I'm WEISS SCHNEE," the white-haired girl said while struggling to keep up her smile, hoping that emphasizing her name would jog the older girl's memory. "The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Partner of Ruby Rose and member of team RWBY."

The older redhead looked thoughtful for a moment, as she tried to remember hearing Weiss' name. She eventually seemed to remember something.

"Oh, that's right! Your name has been mentioned a few times!" Elaine exclaimed, causing Weiss to look hopeful. "I believe people have said that you're apparently a spoiled brat that only got here thanks to your father's influence, and that Ruby was very unfortunate for having someone like you drag her down."

While the heiress was fuming from anger and embarrassment, both Blake and Yang were snickering at their teammate's expense. They felt that it was good for someone to take down Weiss' ego a bit.

"I have heard some things about Ruby's other teammates as well," Elaine added, causing the snickering to stop. "I have heard that one of her teammates is an anti-social girl, who likes to read porn in the middle of class."

Ruby, Weiss and Yang turned to look at Blake, whose face was red from embarrassment. She had always thought that no one had seen her read her beloved "Ninjas of Love" books during class.

"And I have also heard that Ruby's last teammate is a destructive idiot, who causes nothing but trouble," the older team leader added, causing Yang to fume and Weiss to snicker.

Oobleck suddenly cleared his throat, getting the attention of his students again.

"As much as I hate to interrupt your conversation, I'm afraid that we should move on to discuss the reason I called you all here," the green-haired man said. "Now, I'm certain that you have at least some sort of an idea on what this whole meeting is about, Ms. Lambert?"

"I may have a good guess on what this is about," Elaine answered. "I'm guessing either Ruby or her whole team is going to be joining me and my team for some sort of an assignment, correct?"

"You're partially right," Oobleck replied. "While it is true that Ms. Rose is going to be working with you, it's not just any type of assignment that you'll be working on. In fact, she will be your partner in your latest history class assignment, and you will be working on it as equal partners."

"Wait, really?" the redheaded third-year asked. "I mean, I'm not really complaining or anything, but don't you think that's a bit risky? Ruby might be an extremely skilled prodigy and everything, but third-year assignments can be pretty dangerous."

"What's dangerous about a history class assignment?" Yang asked. "What could be so risky with going to the library to read a bunch of books?"

"That might be what history assignments are for the first two years in Beacon, but they're actually a lot different on the third and fourth years," Elaine began to explain. "Instead of simply doing research through reading books, we are tasked with going to actual historical areas to investigate them. However, the places we go are often crawling with Grimm, so they are very dangerous."

All color seemed to drain from the blonde's face upon hearing what Ruby would be getting into. There was no way that she was willing to let the young redhead get into something THAT dangerous. Not without her, at least.

"Professor Oobleck, I must protest this!" Yang exclaimed. "There is no way that Ruby can do this! At the very least I ask that she gets her team with her!"

"Ms. Rose will be in good hands, I can assure you that," Oobleck said calmly, not bothered by his student's protest at all. "Not only will Ms. Lambert be there with her, but the other members of team LION as well. With such a capable team with her, I am certain that there won't be any unfortunate accidents."

"B-But it's still too dangerous!" the brawler tried to argue. "You can't seriously expect me to-"

"I can expect you to accept this, as this was decided not just by me, but by ALL the other teachers," the caffeine-addicted man said sternly, clearly not in the mood for any arguing. "There is literally nothing you can say to change our minds on this subject, so I'd advice you to stop complaining, before you get yourself into any trouble. I'm certain you don't need that anymore."

As much as she still wanted to argue, Yang decided to keep her mouth shut. It was clear that there was nothing that could change the minds of every teacher in Beacon, so she couldn't do anything. She just had to accept the fact that Ruby would be in the care of total strangers, which she didn't like at all.

"Now that we have gotten over that, I think we can return back to the matter at hand," Oobleck said as he turned his attention back to Ruby and Elaine. "While I'm sure you two understand what you'll be doing for the most part, are there any questions either one of you two might have?"

"I personally don't really have anything to ask," Elaine answered with a shrug. "I already know what I need to be working on, so this is just getting a new teammate added to the mix. However, besides my work on my team's assignment, is there anything else you would like me to do, regarding Ruby?"

"Actually, there is," the teacher said with a small smile. "I would like you to keep an eye on how Ms. Rose performs during this little experiment of ours, Ms. Lambert. I wish to fully know how well she can perform with this level of work."

"So, I'll be evaluating her level of skill, huh?" the older team leader said with a smirk. "I'm sure I can handle that."

"That is good to hear," Oobleck said with a smile and turned to look at the younger of the two team leaders. "What about you, Ms. Rose? Do you have any questions?"

"Well, I do have one, actually. What exactly is the purpose of this whole thing?" Ruby asked. "I don't mean to sound rude, but since this is a special thing, I can't help but wonder what this is all about."

"There is a point to this, Ms. Rose. I'm afraid I can't tell you much yet, but let's just say that good things might be ahead of you in the future, if you perform well in all of this," the green-haired man answered. "However, if there are no more questions from either of you, I'll let you two get acquainted with each other and then start working on your project. Also, while I'm sure you won't need to be told this, please introduce your teammates to Ms. Rose as well, Ms. Lambert. That will help you out greatly, when you begin to work together."

"Oh, absolutely! I'm certain they'll like her just as much as I do!" Elaine said with a big smile, as she put her arm around the younger redhead's shoulders, causing Yang to glare at her a bit. However, the older redhead didn't notice the blonde's look at all and simply turned to look at her new partner. "Now that we're no longer needed here, what do you say we get started on our work right away? There are some things that need to be done right away."

"Ummm... Sure! I mean, that's what we are supposed to do, right? Get to work, since that's why we are paired up and all. Not that I wouldn't mind helping you, even if it wasn't an assignment- I'm just talking nonsense now, aren't I?" Ruby babbled, feeling nervous from being so close to the older team leader, who in turn couldn't help but giggle at the younger girl's antics.

"Hey, no need to be nervous, okay? It's not like I'm gonna bite or anything," Elaine said as she started to lead the younger girl out of the classroom. "Trust me on this. We are both going to enjoy this a lot."

As the two redheads left, the remaining members of team RWBY simply stared after the two. Once they were gone, Weiss and Blake turned their attention back to Oobleck.

"So, what is going to happen to our team now?" Blake asked. "Since Ruby will be working with that third-year team now, isn't it going to affect us as well?"

"There are going to be some difficulties ahead, I'm sure of that. However, all teachers are aware of this sudden change, so it will be taken into consideration, if anything happens," the green-haired man began to explain. "Ms. Rose won't most likely be joining you on your regular classes for the most part, as the project she'll be working on will most likely take up a good amount of her time. Luckily, the members of team LION can tutor her on all of her school subjects, so she won't be falling behind on anything. The only major problem is going to be deciding a temporary team leader for you three for now. Anyone willing to step up to the job?"

"I... would like to take up the job of team RWBY's leader," Weiss said with a small smile, happy to finally get a chance at being a leader.

"Now, why isn't that surprising at all?" Blake said sarcastically and rolled her eyes, angering the heiress.

"Now now, there's no need for that kind of hostility at all, okay?" Oobleck quickly said, stopping any argument from happening. "After all, this is only temporary, so there are no worries over any of you staying as the team leader. You just need to decide among yourselves, who is the most qualified to do this for now."

"In that case, I think we should hear the opinion of the whole team," the cat faunus said and turned her attention to her partner. "What do you think, Yang?"

Much to the surprise of everyone there, the blonde didn't give any kind of an answer. In fact, she wasn't even looking at them, as her eyes were still fixed on the classroom door that Ruby and Elaine had just walked through. Yang couldn't help but think about Ruby, and how close Elaine had been with her just now. Even if this was supposed to be only temporary, the brawler couldn't help but feel that something big might happen.

For some reason, she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she might lose Ruby for good.

* * *

**Author's notes: Things are going to be a bit different now, as Ruby will be working with a third-year team. I'll still try my best to have both humor and drama in this story, so I hope you can give it a chance.**

**The reason I decided to make an OC team instead of using an existing team, like team CFVY, was because I wanted to have a team that team RWBY didn't know at all. I wanted there to be a surprise in having them meet a more experienced student, who actually admired Ruby. I didn't want to use any of the teams that were in the Vytal Festival either, as forcing them in wouldn't have felt right and I just don't think it would have worked in a way I would have wanted. I personally try not to use OC's too much, as I feel that the focus of a fanfic should be on the actual characters more. Hope you guys won't mind the team I made for this story.**

**In the next chapter, we will meet the rest of team LION and see Ruby interacting with them. I'll do my best to get it done as soon as possible.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	12. Friendly Interview

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 12: Friendly Interview**

When Elaine had told Ruby that they should get started on their work, the younger redhead had expected to be taken to the library or a bookstore. However, she had not expected to be taken to Beacon's cafeteria, where the older team leader would get them both big cups of hot chocolate and a plate of muffins. So far, this didn't seem like work at all.

"Ummm... Ms. Lambert? Why did we come to the cafeteria?" Ruby asked nervously. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but weren't we supposed to start working on our project? This doesn't really seem like work to me."

"But of course this is work! We are currently building the foundation for our teamwork!" Elaine said happily with a grin. "If there's one thing I've learned about being a team leader, it's that you need to get to know your teammates. Only through knowledge can you begin to build trust and a healthy relationship, so it's necessary for us to get to know each other. And what better way is there for us to do that than by enjoying some delicious muffins and hot chocolate?"

"That... does make sense," the scythe-wielder said, understanding the older team leader's perspective. "Once you know someone, you have a better understanding on how to work with them."

"Exactly! I knew you would understand!" the older redhead said happily. "Also, just call me Elaine or Ellie. There's no need to be all formal with all that "Ms. Lambert" junk. Besides, remember what Professor Oobleck said? We are equals in this thing."

"O-Okay Ms.- I mean, Elaine," Ruby replied, quickly correcting herself.

"That's the spirit! Now, how about we get started on getting to know each other better?" Elaine asked, as she took one of the muffins and took a bite out of it. "As I told you earlier, I've heard a lot about you, but those are just stories about your progress in school. In other words, they tell me about you as a student. What I want to know is the real Ruby Rose."

"The real me?" the younger team leader asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I want to know the actual person that is Ruby Rose," the older team leader explained while still eating her muffin. "I want to know your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future and more! I want to know just what kind of a person is this Ruby Rose that I have heard so much about!"

"Okay... So, what do you want to know?" Ruby asked, still somewhat nervous. "And can I also ask about you?"

"But of course! Otherwise this wouldn't be really productive, would it?" Elaine exclaimed with joy. "Now how about we start off with something simple? What are some of the things you like?"

"Well... I like sweet treats, especially cookies. I also like reading books, especially stories about heroes. Those are the two things that come to mind at the start," the scythe-wielder began. She then looked down with an embarrassed blush on her face, afraid of how the next thing she was going to say would be taken. "I also really like... weapons."

"Hmmm... So we have a sweet tooth, who likes to read and has an interest in weapons then? Sounds good so far," the older redhead said thoughtfully with a smile, surprising Ruby. "I also enjoy sweet treats myself, along with fun stories. While I don't have any special interest in weapons, I can be curious about them from time to time. But hey, we all have our own interests, right?"

"W-Wait a second!" Ruby suddenly said. "You're not bothered by me liking weapons?"

"Why would I be? Like I said, we all have our own likes, so why should I be bothered by something you like?" Elaine explained. "Besides, having an interest in weapons should be a good thing in the business of being a Huntress. After all, they are our most important tools, so we are going to need them, no matter how much one might dislike them."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that," the younger redhead said, as she let out a sigh of relief. "For as long as I can remember, people have always considered my fascination with weapons weird, so I often got strange looks from people. I'm glad to see that it won't be a problem with you."

Elaine suddenly reached over the table to put a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. The younger girl looked up in surprise at the older one and saw a serious look on her face.

"Ruby, I'm sorry you had to go through something like that. It's unfortunate how people can start judging others based on such meaningless things, but I promise that it won't go on forever. No third-year student that's worth a damn would judge you like that, as we know that there are more important things in this world to worry about. So don't feel the need to hide your true self among us, okay?" Elaine said in a comforting tone, before a smile appeared on her face. "Also, it's good to see you're finally starting to relax. You've been so nervous that I was afraid you would have a heart attack or something."

A small embarrassed blush made it's way to Ruby's face. She had honestly tried her best to stay completely calm, but this whole situation was so strange to her that she couldn't help getting nervous. At least the older girl had been completely calm with her and had not been bothered by the younger one's nervousness.

"Alright, since you told me about your likes, how about I do the same and tell you about mine?" Elaine said, leaning back on her seat again. "I personally like to play games on my free time. Video games, board games, phone games and so on. I'm also very interested in animation."

"Animation?" Ruby asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Pretty much that not only do I love to watch animated series and movies, but I'm also very interested in the whole process of animation," the older redhead began to explain. "I like to watch documentaries about it and making my own little animations as well. Let me show you an example."

Elaine pulled a small flipbook from her pocket and showed it to Ruby. When you flipped through the pages, you saw a small baby sitting on the floor, who then suddenly started to breakdance. The baby's movements were very fluid and detailed, which impressed the young sniper very much.

"This is so cool!" Ruby exclaimed with a big smile on her face. "Did you make this!?"

"I sure did!" Elaine replied proudly. "I've done all sorts of animations on my spare time, and I hope to become a legitimate animator in the future! In fact, one of the reasons I decided to become a Huntress was to help me reach that goal."

"How would becoming a Huntress help in that?" the younger redhead asked.

"That's simple. Huntsmen and Huntresses have a lot of sway over a lot of things," the older redhead explained. "It's a common fact that those with the status of a Huntsman or a Huntress have an easier time getting some things than other people. They have better chances at getting into higher positions, especially in the police and the military. They also find it easier to get loans and many other things. Now, this doesn't obviously apply on everything, as you still need to consider the Huntsman or Huntress themselves and whatever they're trying to achieve. But generally speaking, they have it easier. I'm hoping to use my influence as a Huntress to start my own animation studio, which will then hopefully grow."

"Wow... That sounds pretty cool," Ruby said in amazement. "Do you perhaps have any ideas for series or movies planned?"

"Why yes I do! I have concept art for characters, settings and all sorts of things! Not to mention, I've been working on a script on my spare time for a few years now!" Elaine answered happily. "The problem is just that I really lack a lot of resources I would need to make my dream come true. There's equipment I need and possibly a few helpers as well. While fulfilling my dream isn't the only reason I decided to become a Huntress, it will greatly help me get a lot of the things I'm going to need."

For a moment, Ruby was completely silent as she thought about what her new partner had told her. While she herself had decided to become a Huntress in order to be a hero, like the ones she had always admired in stories, it wasn't obviously the same with all the other students. There were most likely many who saw their studies as more of a means to an end, rather than their whole goal. The sniper thought about Weiss and Blake, and about what they hoped to accomplish in the future. Their goals sounded somewhat similar to what Elaine was trying to accomplish. While the older student's dream wasn't as idealistic and grand as Ruby's two teammates', they were still things they wished to achieve with the help of becoming Huntresses.

"By the way, why did you decide to become a Huntress?" Elaine suddenly asked, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts. "I'm kind of curious to hear what made you choose such a dangerous career."

"...Well, it might be a bit childish, but I have always admired the heroes in stories, so I've sort of wanted to become one," Ruby answered. "I mean, it's a dream I've been holding onto for as long as I can remember and I want to make it a reality. Although, if there was a bigger reason for me wanting to become a Huntress, it would be my mother."

"Your mother? How come?" the older team leader asked out of curiosity.

"You see, when I was a kid, if there was a single person that I thought of as my greatest hero, it would have been my mother. She was also a Huntress and I often listened to her stories about all the adventures she had. She made it all sound so fun and great that I couldn't help but dream of being like her someday," the younger team leader explained. "However, I was eventually hit in the face with a harsh amount of reality. One day, she went on a mission and didn't return when she was supposed to. We waited for two weeks, hoping for the best, when a man came to our house. He told us that my mother had lost her life on her mission."

"Oh... Ruby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-" Elaine began to apologize, but was cut off by the younger redhead.

"It's okay. It's probably for the best, if you know about it," Ruby said, as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She took a deep breath to compose herself, before she continued. "When I found out about what happened to her, I was honestly devastated. For a few weeks, I was like a living corpse. I couldn't bring myself to play, laugh or even smile. I... I'm not sure what would have happened to me, had my dad, Uncle Qrow and Yang not been there for me. I did manage to overcome my sadness over time, but I still remember how I felt back then. In time, I learned more details on what had really happened to my mother on her mission. Apparently, she had sacrificed her life, so a group of villagers could escape from a large number of Grimm. I then realized that what my mother had done was prevent many others from going through what I did, even if she had to lose her life because of it."

"She truly was a hero then," the older redhead said with a sad smile. "I'm guessing that you really look up to your mother and want to be like her, huh?"

"Yeah... I want to be someone she could be proud of. That's why I'm trying to become the best Huntress possible, so that no one else has to go through what I did," the sniper said with a small, sad smile that soon disappeared from her face. "I... I still think about her, you know? I wish that she could be here, to give me tips on how to be a Huntress and to see how much progress I've made. However, I can't help but also fear what she might say about me. Would she be proud of me or disappointed? Is there something I've done wrong that she would disapprove of? Would she-"

Ruby was suddenly cut off by the sudden feeling of a tight and comforting hug. Seeing how saddened her young friend was, Elaine had gotten up from her seat and gone around the table to sit right next to Ruby, after which she had pulled the younger girl into a hug.

"I know it's rough for you, but never think like that about yourself, okay? There is absolutely no way that your mother would ever be disappointed in you. If she were here, the only thing she would feel towards you would be pride, as you're going to be an amazing Huntress one of these days," Elaine said in a comforting tone, before pulling back a bit, so that Ruby could see her face. "And you wanna know how I know that? Because I feel proud of simply getting to work with you. Believe when I say that great Huntresses like you are very rare, so you should feel proud of yourself as well."

Hearing such kind words caused Ruby to start sobbing. Elaine simply kept hugging the younger girl, offering her all the comfort she could need. A lot of bottled up emotions were spilling out and the older team leader was more than willing to be there to help Ruby let them out.

After a few minutes of crying, Ruby had calmed down and wiping away the stains on her face.

"Thank you, Elaine," Ruby said while getting rid of the last of her tears. "I'm sorry about your jacket. I think it got a bit stained."

"Don't worry about that. Clothes get dirty all the time and you can always get them cleaned," Elaine said with a kind smile. "What's truly important is that you're feeling better now."

The younger redhead smiled, as she truly did feel a lot better. It felt good to let all of her bottled up emotions go for once with someone there to offer you comfort as well.

"Now, how about we try to cheer up and finish these muffins of ours? You actually haven't touched a single one of them yet!" Elaine said with a grin. "Besides, I'm sure your hot chocolate is cold by now."

Ruby nodded and the two girls went on to enjoy their muffins and hot chocolate in calm silence. However, the silence was suddenly broken by the younger of the two, as she had a question for the older girl.

"By the way, Elaine, can I ask you something?" Ruby said, getting the older team leader's attention. "Why aren't you bothered at all by my age? I mean, a lot of other students don't seem to like the fact that I got here two years earlier than they did, so how come you're not bothered by it at all?"

"The answer to that is rather simple, Ruby. It's all about experience and maturity," Elaine answered while munching on one of the muffins. "For the first two years, the students of Beacon get to do relatively safe missions. While there is the occasional Nevermore or Deathstalker, you guys don't have to face some of the truly dangerous Grimm out there. When your third year comes along, the difficulty of your missions jumps up significantly. In fact, you are not allowed to take up simple Beowolf missions anymore, as they are far too easy. When you're put in a position where losing your life is very possible, it's best for you to realize what really matters in terms of those you have to work with."

"And what is that?" the younger redhead asked.

"Skill. Things like gender, age, race, name or anything else don't mean anything, unless you've got the necessary skills to not only complete your mission, but to also keep those in your team safe," the older redhead explained. "Not to mention, there's a bit of a special reason as to why I'm not bothered by your age at all, which I'm sure is the same for my teammates as well. I think it might be the reason as to why our team was chosen for this."

"A special reason? What is that?" Ruby asked, curious as to what there could possibly be that would make an older student so accepting of her.

"Well, you'll see what it is, once you meet the rest of my team," Elaine replied, before drinking the last of her hot chocolate and getting up from her seat. "How about we go meet them? I'm sure they would love to meet you."

"Sure! I'm very excited to see the team that you lead!" the younger girl said with a smile, as she got up from her seat, too. "Besides, I'd have to meet them in the end, so what's the point in avoiding it?"

"That's the spirit! Now let's get going!"

With that, the two girls began to make their way towards the dorm of team LION. Even if she had been nervous and somewhat scared not too long ago, Ruby wasn't afraid at all anymore. In fact, she was happy and excited, as she felt that she might have for the first time in her life made a real friend, along with the possibility of making more.

The young redhead couldn't help but wonder what kind of people the members of team LION would be.

* * *

**Author's notes: Yeah, I know I said that we would see the other members of team LION in this chapter, but I kind of changed my mind about it, as I was writing this chapter. I wanted there to be a moment where Ruby would get to know Elaine first, before meeting her teammates. The conversation between them ended up getting so long that if I were to add the introduction of team LION's other members, it would have been just too long in my opinion. This led to me cutting off at the point I did and leaving the rest of the "OC introduction" to the next chapter. Hope that doesn't bother you guys.**

**The next chapter will definitely show the rest of team LION's members, and we'll get to see a bit of Ruby's teammates as well. There will be more focus on Yang and her other teammates in the future.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	13. Team LION

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 13: Team LION**

Ruby followed Elaine, as the two girls went to where the third-year students' dorms were located. Once they had made their way to where the older students were located, the young redhead noticed how the students around her had begun to stare at her and whisper to each other. At first, Ruby thought that the students were saying all sorts of nasty things about her, as that's what the students in her year group would always do. However, she was very surprised, when she actually heard what they were saying.

"Hey, you think that's Ruby Rose?"

"You mean the one we have heard so much about? THAT Ruby Rose?"

"What could bring her here? And why is team LION's leader with her?"

"I'm guessing team LION got lucky, since it seems they got the best possible first-year for their first-year and third-year joint assignment."

"Man, I was hoping I could get her to join my team. Think it's possible to have her change teams?"

To say that Ruby was surprised would be a big understatement. Never before in her life had she experienced anything like this. Until now, all that she had heard other students whisper about her were nothing but nasty and mean things, such as her sneaking into Beacon illegally or bribing the staff through different ways, but these students were completely different. Not a single one of them was looking at her with a glare or saying anything bad about her. In fact, it was more like they were excited and happy to have her around, almost like she was someone they looked up to.

"See? I told you that people were talking about you and that you were a celebrity around here," Elaine said with a smirk, noticing how Ruby had heard the other students' whispers. "There's no need for you to be scared at all. Over here, we don't look down on people simply because of their age."

"I-It is nice to see that I'm liked, but it's a bit weird," the younger girl said nervously. "I've never experienced anything like this, so I'm not sure how to take this."

"Just relax and let them be. It's not like they're doing anything bad, right?" the older girl suggested. "If there's one thing you should take from this, it's that you should be proud of yourself and your achievements. The students around you are proof of that."

Ruby simply gave a nod in response and continued to follow Elaine. The two girls eventually made their way to where the third-year dorms were. The older of the two girls began to head towards one of the doors, which the younger redhead guessed was team LION's dorm, but a sudden loud noise from the room stopped them in their tracks.

_"GODDAMMIT, NOT AGAIN!"_ yelled a rather angry female voice from behind the door.

"...W-What was that?" Ruby asked fearfully with wide eyes.

"If I were to guess, it's a certain teammate of mine playing video games again," Elaine answered with a frustrated sigh. "She's been having trouble with her game for the last three weeks, which has led to us having to hear her roar every now and then."

"Is it safe for us to go there?" the younger team leader asked. "I mean, if she is upset, it might not be best for me to come now."

"Oh, don't you worry about her! She is just upset at her game and nothing more. There's no reason to be afraid of her," the older team leader replied, not bothered by her teammate's antics at all. "Besides, if she is going to try and do anything to you, I'll handle her. I've done it before."

Despite still being somewhat scared for her safety, Ruby simply nodded and followed Elaine, as the two entered the dorm. The younger redhead looked around the room and saw that it was similar to the dorm rooms other teams had. The only big difference seemed to be that there were four bean bag chairs in the middle of the room, facing the TV.

Inside the dorm were two people, whom Ruby assumed were Elaine's teammates. One of them was a girl that was sitting on one of the bean bag chairs with a video game controller in her hands, while facing the TV that had the original Super Mario Bros. playing. The girl had dark skin and red eyes, along with pure white hair that was in a long and spiky mane that reached her lower back. She was wearing a long and loose, tan-colored robe, along with black shorts and white sandals.

The second person in the room was a boy, who was laying on one of the beds while reading a book. His appearance caused Ruby to go wide-eyed, as this boy was simply huge. He was easily much taller than Yatsuhashi or anyone else that the young redhead had ever seen. In all honesty, Ruby was surprised that this giant was able to fit in his bed, and that the bed didn't simply break under him. He had a messy mop of dark brown hair and black eyes. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie and dark gray cargo pants, along with black shoes and a white and blue striped chullo hat on his head.

"Hey, Ellie, who's the kid?" the girl playing video games asked with a smirk. "Did you perhaps decide to switch teams and leave Nilo to me?"

"Bite me, Issie," Elaine said with a glare at her teammate. "Besides, how could I leave Nilo to someone like you?"

"What's THAT supposed to mean!?" the other girl asked angrily.

"Just that you're not all that trustworthy," the redhead replied simply. "I mean, after three whole weeks, you can't even get past the first level of Super Mario Bros. I'm pretty sure that you're the only person in the whole world who can't do that."

"Why you-"

"Calm down, Isabella," the boy on the bed said without looking up from his book. "We have a visitor, so try your best to behave for once, okay?"

The girl named Isabella simply grumbled and went back to her game, hoping to ignore her teammates. Now that the white-haired girl was not causing trouble, Elaine walked up to her other teammate.

"Hey, Oliver, where's Nilo? I would like to introduce our guest to the whole team," the redhead asked.

"He suddenly dashed into the bathroom, before you two came," Oliver replied, still reading his book. "You know how he is. He must have sensed that you were bringing someone new, so he hid himself."

"Wait, why would he hide himself from me?" Ruby asked, completely confused. "Is he scared of me or something?"

"Don't take it the wrong way. He's just very shy and has been through a lot," Elaine explained. "Nilo's a real sweetheart, so I'm sure the two of you will become great friends before you even know it."

Suddenly, the door to the dorm's bathroom began to open. It moved very slowly at first, until it was flung open, as the person behind it seemed to trip and fall down, revealing themselves to everyone in the room.

As the person began to get up, Ruby's eyes went wide in surprise at what she saw. The person that had just appeared out of the bathroom was a young boy, who couldn't be any older than herself. In fact, judging by his height, he might have even been younger. He had black spiky hair that reached his shoulders and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a dark purple shirt with long sleeves, along with white baggy pants and black shoes. He also seemed to be very nervous, as his body was shaking lightly constantly.

"Nilo, what were you doing in the bathroom?" Elaine asked with a small smile. "You know there's no need to hide around here."

"I-I-I'm sorry, b-but I just s-sensed someone n-new and s-strong coming over here," the young boy stuttered nervously. "M-My body just m-moved on it's o-own."

"No need for apologies, pal. I just wish you would try to be a bit more brave, you know?" the redheaded team leader said as she walked up to the young boy and gave him a hug. "You're kind of required to meet people as a Huntsman, so you need to work on that shy nature of yours. Besides, our new friend here would never hurt you, okay?"

"O-Okay..."

"Uhhh... I don't mean to sound rude, but is he really a third-year student?" Ruby asked awkwardly. "It's just that he seems a bit too... young for that."

"Well, normally he would be too young, but he's a bit of a special case," Isabella answered while still playing her game. "Nilo didn't join Beacon the same way most students do, but was instead scouted by Ozpin himself. He would have normally been put in a team of first-year students, but there were no open spots for him. Luckily, our second-year team had an open spot after one of our teammates had quit, so he got placed with us. That way he actually skipped the first year of Beacon."

The young redhead was surprised to hear about another person joining Beacon early other than herself. From what she understood, it was such a special and unusual thing that she had never expected to meet another person who had skipped grades. Yet here she was, in the same room with a person that had actually managed to skip more than she herself did.

"I told you there was a special reason as to why we weren't bothered by those who skip grades," Elaine said with a grin, noticing Ruby's surprised expression. "This is what I was talking about."

"Anyways, who is your new friend, Ellie?" Isabella asked. "Is she part of some sort of a special assignment for us by one of the teachers?"

"Actually, she is," the redhead said and walked up to Ruby. She placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder and looked at her teammates. "Guys, this is Ruby Rose, who will be joining us for our history assignment. Ruby, these are my teammates, Isabella Irons, Oliver Dunston and Nilo Temor."

Upon hearing Ruby's name, all of Elaine's teammates went wide-eyed and stared at the young redhead. Isabella stopped playing her game and didn't even notice her character falling off a cliff. Oliver looked away from his book for the first time and Nilo's face seemed to turn a bit pale.

Meanwhile, Ruby herself was a bit disturbed by everyone's reactions and could only give a small wave of her hand at them.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," Oliver said with a small smile, as he put down his book, got off his bed and walked up to the young team leader. He then offered his hand to her. "Hello, Ruby. I'm Oliver, but you can call me Ollie. I hope we'll get along."

"Likewise," Ruby said as she took the giant's hand and shook it.

"Oh my God, THIS IS SO COOL!" Isabella yelled as she suddenly appeared next to the little redhead, scaring her. "Hi! I'm Isabella! You have no idea how excited I am about this! I have heard so many cool things about you!"

"Ummm... I'm glad to hear that," Ruby said, still a bit taken aback by the white-haired girl's sudden introduction.

"I-I-I-I'm N-N-N-Nilo. I-I-I'm h-happy to m-meet y-you," Nilo managed to say while offering a shaking hand to the scythe-wielder. "I-I-I h-hope that w-we can get a-along."

"Sure. I hope that, too," Ruby said and shook the nervous boy's hand.

While the members of team LION were introducing themselves to the young sniper, Elaine was watching them with a smile on her face. Ruby had been so nervous about meeting her teammates that it was great to see that all of her fears were unnecessary.

Now that their introductions were done, the three members of team LION were now surrounding the young newcomer, asking her all sorts of questions. It wouldn't have been all that bad, if Ruby wasn't still a nervous wreck, trying her best to come up with answers to all the things that were asked from her. Not to mention, Isabella was asking questions so rapidly that the younger girl was having trouble keeping up with what was asked of her.

Not wanting to see her new friend get brought down by her team's interrogation, Elaine decided to step in and save the younger redhead.

"Alright, I think that's enough questioning for now!" the older team leader said while stepping between Ruby and her teammates, separating them. "We don't want to scare our new teammate, now do we?"

"Oh, that's right. You said something about her joining us for our history assignment. What did you mean by that?" Oliver asked.

"Exactly what I said. Ruby here will be joining us as a fifth member for our history assignment," Elaine answered with a small grin. "She won't just be observing us, but she will actually take part in the actual work as well, while we are tasked with observing her and judging her skills. This was something that was decided by all of Beacon's teachers, so consider her the fifth member of team LION for now."

"You mean this famous prodigy is going to be working with us? That's great!" Isabella exclaimed happily and once again got very close to Ruby, which freaked her out. "I hope you'll be able to help me out in our work! I'm always having trouble with assignments that require more "intelligent" work, so-"

The white-haired girl's ramblings were cut off by her team leader pushing her away rather roughly, causing her to stumble backwards. She was NOT happy about this.

"HEY! What's the big deal, Ellie!?" Isabella asked angrily.

"You mean besides the fact that you're freaking Ruby out by getting too close? The fact that you're obviously trying to dump your work on her already," Elaine answered in an irritated voice, as she put an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "Each of us has to do our fair share of work, so don't try skipping it."

"Oh, come on! When have I ever done something like that!?" the dark-skinned girl demanded.

"Just last month! Remember how you persuaded Nilo into taking up your work in order to "help" you?" the redhead answered and put her other arm around her youngest teammate's shoulders. "This poor guy had to take on so much work that he almost had a nervous breakdown! Thankfully Ollie and I managed to talk him out of doing it!"

"Geh! Bring up past mistakes why don't you..." Isabella muttered in defeat.

"Ummm... Excuse me?" Ruby called out, getting the older team's attention. "Should I leave or something? I mean, I was brought here to be introduced to the rest of the team, which has been done now, so do you guys want me to give you some privacy?"

"But you can't just leave already, Ruby! The best part is yet to come!" Elaine said with a big smile and pulled the younger girl even closer. "While you may know our names and faces, you still don't really know us! Not to mention, you're not comfortable hanging out with any of us yet! We need to fix that, if you are going to be working with us from this point on!"

"Okay, but how de we do that?" the younger girl asked.

"That's simple! We are going to have you take part in one of our team activities!" the older girl replied and let go of the two younger students she had been holding. She walked up to a bookshelf that seemed to be full of DVDs. "We often like to do things as a team together. The things we do include movie nights, board games, video games and all sorts of other things. Since it's your first time hanging out with us, how about we simply watch movies together? Ever heard of Studio Ghibli?"

"Oh! It's that very famous animation studio from Mistral! I've seen a good amount of their films and loved ALL of them! I think Princess Mononoke is my favorite of the ones I've seen!" Ruby said happily, knowing what the older team leader was talking about.

Upon hearing the younger redhead say that she knew Studio Ghibli, a strange glint appeared in Elaine's eyes.

"Oh boy..." Oliver mumbled and shook his head.

"Here we go again!" Isabella said with a roll of her eyes.

Before Ruby could ask what the two older students were talking about, Elaine suddenly appeared right in front of her with several Studio Ghibli DVDs in her hands and a her eyes fully gleaming from excitement.

"I know, their stuff is awesome, right!? They're just the best!" the older redhead said happily. "While I love Princess Mononoke, my personal favorite has to Spirited Away! The animation is just incredible in that one, and the music is just amazing! However, one that I also really like is Porco Rosso, which doesn't get mentioned anywhere near the amount it should! The stuff by Studio Ghibli is so great because they make movies that are not only great for kids, but also feature themes suitable for adults as well! Like how Princess Mononoke has an environmental message in it and-!"

Elaine's crazed rant was ended by Oliver grabbing her by the back of her jacket and lifting her up in the air for a moment. The sudden elevation silenced the ranting girl immediately.

"Ellie, for the love of everything that is good and holy, could you tone down your geeky side at least a bit when we have guests?" the tall boy asked with a frustrated sigh. "We ALL know how much you like animation, especially Studio Ghibli. There's no need to freak out people over it."

"B-But she knows Studio Ghibli, Ollie! She has seen the light!" Elaine whined. "Do you know how hard it is to find a kindred spirit!? I finally found someone who knows what I'm talking about and-"

"I doubt she knows as much as you do about animation or Studio Ghibli. You just got way too excited by her saying that she had seen a few of their movies. Don't jump to conclusions," Oliver said in a stern tone. "Now, are you going to stop scaring the poor girl and behave yourself? Or do I have to make you sit in the corner again?"

The redhead's shoulders slumped down in defeat, showing that she had decided to do the smart thing and behave herself. Seeing as how his team leader had calmed down, the brown-haired boy put her down.

Meanwhile, the other people in the room were watching the whole thing with different reactions. Ruby was wide-eyed with surprise, having not expected to see what she had just witnessed. Isabella was snickering at what happened with Elaine, and Nilo was looking at his team leader with slight worry.

Without saying a word, Elaine went to set up the first movie, before taking a seat on one of the bean bag chairs. It was at this moment that Ruby realized how there were only four chairs, so one of them wouldn't have one.

"Excuse me, what are we going to do about seats?" the young redhead asked. "There are five of us, but only four seats. Do I sit on the floor or something?"

"Of course not! You are our guest, so we should treat you well, right?" the older redhead said with a grin, her happy mood having returned. "Just come over here and I'll show you how we'll make sure everyone has a seat!"

Ruby did as she was told and walked up to the older girl. As soon as she was within reach, Elaine grabbed her arm and pulled the younger girl into her lap. Ruby immediately turned bright red, while the older team leader kept grinning.

"See? Now we don't have to worry about the lack of seats!" Elaine said happily.

"W-Wait, what!?" Ruby managed to squeak out.

"And since Ellie will be sitting with Ruby, I'll be sitting with Nilo!" Isabella said happily, while she sat next to her teammate with her youngest teammate sitting on her lap.

"H-Hang on a second! Why are you doing this!?" Ruby asked.

"Because you're both so cute!" Elaine and Isabella said at the same time.

"Trust me. Just roll with it," Nilo told Ruby with a small sigh. "I go through this pretty much every day. Sometimes I even forget what it feels like to sit on a normal chair."

"Well, can you blame us!? You're both so adorable that we just want to hug and cuddle you!" Isabella said happily. "I can't see why there would be anything wrong with this!"

With the rest of the group seated, Oliver simply sat with them on one of the empty bean bag chairs. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the antics of his teammates, having witnessed them many times over the years.

Despite how odd this whole situation was, Ruby couldn't help but feel happy deep down. If she were completely honest, this was something she had wished from her own team. It was nice to experience it, even if it was through another team.

Now that the whole group was sitting, they all focused on the movie that was playing on the TV.

* * *

A few hours later, Ruby was still in the same "seat". They had watched a couple movies while making small talk with each other. The redhead was very surprised at how much she was enjoying herself. Even if there was a gap in terms of age and experience between herself and most of team LION's members, they were able to spend time together like they had been friends for a long time.

This was something Ruby had wanted ever since she became part of team RWBY. A group of great friends to hang out with and have fun. Too bad things hadn't turned out the way she had hoped.

Suddenly realizing how much time must have passed, Ruby quickly took out her Scroll to check out the time. Like she had feared, it was already 9:45 PM, meaning that she would have to hurry back to her own team's dorm.

"Is something wrong, Ruby?" Elaine asked, wondering why the younger girl seemed to be panicking.

"Not really. I just noticed how late it was," Ruby answered. "I need to get back to my dorm or my teammates might start wondering where I am."

"Do you really have to go? I mean, it's already pretty late, so why don't you just spend the night here?" the older redhead asked. "That way you don't have miss out on our movie marathon."

"Yeah, Ruby! Stay the night with us!" Isabella said excitedly. "Tomorrow is Saturday anyway, so there's no harm in staying with us! Besides, I'm sure your team can handle a night without you! If you want to stay at a friend's place, you have the right to do so!"

Ruby looked at Isabella, Oliver and Nilo, and saw that each one of them was giving her an approving smile. She then turned to look at Elaine and saw her giving the same look. All of them wanted her here, to spend time with them. For once, Ruby felt what it was like to have someone want her around.

The young redhead thought about her own team, who were probably wondering where she was right now. She also thought about all the times they had left her behind in order to go to Vale and hang around in clubs and other places, thinking that their team leader was too young to be with them. A lot of times they didn't even inform her about what they were doing. A small feeling of satisfaction made it's way to Ruby, as she thought about how the tables had turned between herself and her team.

"You know what? You're right. I'll stay here for the night," Ruby said with a smile, causing the members of team LION to cheer. "I see no harm in staying over at a friend's place. Besides, it helps me get to know you all, right?"

Just as the group was about to return to their film, the young redhead's Scroll began to ring. She took it out of her pocket and saw that Yang was calling her, most likely wondering where she was.

"Hello, Yang," Ruby answered the call. "What do you want?"

_"What do I want!? Ruby, it's almost 10 PM! Where are you!?"_ Yang replied in a worried tone. _"I haven't seen you at all since Professor Oobleck's class today! Where did you go and where have you been since then!?"_

"Yang, I've been with Elaine the whole time. She invited me over to her dorm to meet her team, and we have been spending time together ever since," the young team leader explained. "There's no need to worry, as I'll be spending the night here, so you can go to sleep without any worries."

_"Without any worries!? Ruby, you don't know those people at all! How can you be sure that they won't-!?"_ the blonde began to say, only to be cut off by the younger girl.

"They are trustworthy enough that the teachers of Beacon can entrust my life and safety to them. I think that is all I need to know," Ruby said somewhat sternly, not in the mood to be arguing with the older girl. "Now, I'll be spending the night here and I'll see you tomorrow. End of discussion."

Before Yang could argue anymore, the young team leader ended the call and put her Scroll away.

"Troubles with your team?" Elaine asked, concerned if her new friend had problems.

"Nothing big," Ruby answered calmly. "Just someone troublesome I need to deal with."

* * *

Back in team RWBY's dorm, Yang had an expression of shock on her face, as she lowered her Scroll from her ear. The blonde girl had been sitting on her bed, waiting for Ruby to come back, only for the redhead to not return at all. And now, that same girl had just told her that she wouldn't be coming back at all and would be staying at someone else's dorm.

"So, what did Ruby say?" Blake asked, already dressed in her sleepwear and ready to go to bed. "Is she going to come back here?"

"No, she won't be coming back," Yang answered in a somewhat saddened tone. "She said she will be spending the night at that Elaine girl's dorm."

"Well, everything is fine then, right?" Weiss asked from her bed. "You were worried that something bad had happened to her, but if she is simply going to be staying at a friend's dorm, then there's nothing to worry about."

"I wish it was that simple, but I'm not so sure," the brawler said with a small frown. "I mean, it just feels weird that she's not here, you know? It's almost like she has switched us for this new team."

"Yang, I'm sure you're worried over nothing," Blake said reassuringly. "Ruby is allowed to have friends other than us and spend time with them. Things will most likely return to normal once she is done with that assignment she's working on with that third-year team. Besides, it's probably a good idea for her to spend some time away from us. Remember that she wasn't all that happy with us not too long ago."

Yang gave a nod, but wasn't fully convinced. While thinking about it rationally, there was nothing wrong with what was happening right now. In fact, things were incredibly good, since Ruby was not only making new friends, but being recognized for her exceptional skills.

However, as the blonde girl looked at the redhead's empty bed, she couldn't help but feel that the dorm was somehow a lot lonelier and colder than before. It was like something very important was missing and there was no guarantee it was coming back.

* * *

**Author's notes: I hope you all enjoyed these last few chapters that introduced team LION. I know they were a bit focused on the OCs, which I can understand people not liking all that much, but I felt it was necessary for building up this story. I'll try to focus more on Ruby and Yang from now on, though.**

**Anyways, I'll be working on Dead By Roselight a bit next, before coming back to this story. Hope you can wait until then.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	14. Without A Rose

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 14: Without A Rose**

The next morning, Yang woke up and looked towards where Ruby's bed was, thinking that she would see the young redhead sleeping there. Unfortunately for the blonde, Ruby was nowhere to be seen, which reminded her of what had happened last night. The younger girl had decided to spend the night at Team LION's dorm, meaning that she wouldn't be seen until breakfast at least.

A frown made it's way to Yang's face, as she thought about the idea of Ruby spending the night at another team's dorm, especially with that Elaine person. For some reason, the brawler couldn't help but be very bothered by it. No matter how much she tried to reason with herself and say that Ruby had the right to spend time with other friends when she wanted, Yang couldn't help but hate the idea. It just didn't feel right to her that the scythe-wielder was currently getting close to someone else. Someone else that wasn't her. The blonde didn't know why, but she just felt angry and irritated just by thinking about it.

Deciding that it was no use to simply lay on her bed and worry about it, Yang got down from her bed and decided to get ready for the day. She hoped that she might see Ruby during breakfast and get to talk with her. Maybe she could find out what happened inside the third-year team's dorm.

"Good morning, Yang," Blake said to her partner while waking up. She looked around and noticed that one of her teammates was missing. "I'm guessing that Ruby still hasn't come back then?"

"No. We probably won't get to see her until breakfast," Yang replied. "Hopefully we'll get to see her, because I want to know what happened between her and Elaine's team."

"I don't see why you need to know that, as I doubt anything all that serious could have happened," the cat faunus said as she got up from her bed. "I mean, they were probably just talking about that assignment of theirs and getting to know each other. What possible harm could come from that?"

"Well, we won't know, until we find out, now do we!?" the blonde asked somewhat harshly, surprising her partner a bit. "All I know is that Ruby spent the whole day with that girl's team and we know nothing about them or what they were doing! I need to know what really happened before I can just let things be!"

"Yang, calm down!" Blake said to the aggressive girl. "Their team was chosen by the staff of this school, so they have to be trustworthy! Why are you getting so upset over all of this!?"

Yang was about to answer, but couldn't do it. She honestly didn't know the reason herself either. All she knew was that something about Ruby being near that Elaine person, who was acting very friendly towards the younger girl, caused something to twist inside the brawler.

To make things more confusing, Yang herself had hoped that Ruby would make new friends upon arriving at Beacon. Why was that such a problem now?

"Would someone mind telling me why you need to be so loud in the morning?" Weiss asked in an irritated voice, having been woken up by her two teammates. "Some of us would like to sleep during Saturday morning, you know?"

"Sorry about that, Weiss. It's just that Yang is a bit troubled," Blake said, causing the blonde girl to glare at her. "She is not happy about Ruby spending last night with that Elaine person's team. Why she feels like this is still a mystery, though."

"I don't see what the big deal with the whole thing is. After all, Ruby was put on an assignment with them, so they naturally should be spending some time together," the heiress said while getting up. "As far as I know, nothing bad has happened, so there's no need to be acting like the world is going to end."

"That's because neither one of you is taking this seriously!" Yang yelled angrily. "Do either one of you know anything about Elaine!? Or her teammates!? For all we know, they could be abusing Ruby or something!"

"And like I said earlier, their team was chosen by Beacon's teachers themselves!" Blake yelled back at her partner, having grown tired of the way the brawler was acting. "If you can't trust the people they have chose, you essentially cannot trust the teachers themselves! Are you really saying that the teachers of Beacon themselves are not trustworthy!?"

"I'm not saying that! I just... well... THIS WHOLE THING JUST FEELS WRONG, OKAY!?" Yang yelled out of frustration. She could almost rip the hair out of her head at this point. "Don't either one of you feel that things shouldn't be like this!? Ruby is OUR teammate! Our team leader! Don't you think that it's wrong for her to be in another team!?"

"Yang, I can understand that this is... difficult to get used to. Even I feel a bit weird over the fact that Ruby's not here," the raven-haired girl said, hoping to calm the blonde girl. "But it's something that we are just going to have to get used to. Ruby has been given a great opportunity that we shouldn't go mess with, like we did before. I doubt she would forgive us, if we did. It will take some time, but I'm sure we'll get through this."

"Yeah! Besides, it's not like this change is permanent!" Weiss added, hoping to help Blake in calming down their upset teammate. "Before you know it, Ruby will be done with her assignment and she'll be back with us again! It might take some time, but things will go back to normal! You can be sure of that!"

Despite her friends' reassurance, Yang couldn't help but feel worried. There was something about this whole thing that just felt wrong. And because of that feeling, the blonde didn't like what was happening at all.

* * *

Some time later, the three girls were in the cafeteria, eating breakfast. They had hoped to see Ruby there, but couldn't find her anywhere. With no better ideas, the trio decided to wait for their missing team leader to come to the cafeteria, while enjoying their first meal of the day.

Unfortunately, this seemed to be difficult to a certain person.

"Yang, I'm sure Ruby will come here soon," Blake said with a sigh while eating her tuna sandwich.

"I know that," the blonde replied.

"If you do, then how about actually eating your breakfast?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't eaten any of your cornflakes."

"I'm just letting them soak up some of the milk. That's all," Yang said while poking her bowl of cereal with her spoon.

"With the way you're letting them soak up, I'm sure the cornflakes are actually going to melt into the milk," Blake said with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly, is the whole thing with Ruby really such a big deal?"

"Yes, it is. Now, how about you two let me be? Or were you planning on to bug me for the whole day?" the brawler said in a slightly angry tone, not in the mood for any more of her teammates' questions.

The other two members of team RWBY decided to stay quiet, not wanting to upset their blonde teammate more than she already was.

Despite waiting for two hours in the cafeteria, the three girls didn't see Ruby arrive there at all. Due to this, Yang was starting to get visibly irritated, as she was vey unhappy about not getting to see the missing redhead at all. During this whole time, she hadn't touched her cereal at all, as she was not in the mood to eat anything.

Seeing how upset their brawler teammate was, Weiss and Blake wondered if there was something they could do to help the situation. If things got worse with Yang, who knew what she might end up doing.

"Yang, how about instead of waiting for Ruby here, we go ask about her from one of the third-year teams?" Blake suggested. "It might be a bit of a gamble, but we might find out where she is."

"Not a bad idea, but it has one problem," Yang said in a grumpy tone. "Do you know which of these students are third-year students? I'm asking because I sure don't know."

The cat faunus frowned as her partner did have a point. Even if they could find out where Ruby was from one of the third-year teams, they would first need to find one such team. Since they didn't even know who all the first-year teams were, it would be very difficult to find a single third-year team among all the students.

Blake suddenly spotted a team of four boys arriving to the cafeteria who seemed to be a bit older. It was a complete guess, but the raven-haired girl decided that it was worth the shot to ask them if they were third-years and knew about Ruby. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Blake quickly got up from her seat and walked up to the older-looking team. The four boys soon noticed the younger girl that was walking towards them and stopped, wondering what she wanted.

"Excuse me, but you four wouldn't happen to be third-year students, would you?" Blake asked politely.

"Indeed we are," one of the boys answered with a smile. "Do you need something from us? Perhaps some private tutoring from your seniors?"

"No, but thank you for the offer," the cat faunus replied. "I was wondering if you happened to know where another third-year team would be. You see, one of my friends is currently with that team and I would like to know where she is."

"Really? And what team would that happen to be?" the boy asked.

"The team I'm looking for is led by a person named Elaine Lambert, who is the leader of team LION," Blake explained. "Do you know where they are? I've been waiting for them here at the cafeteria with my teammates for some time now."

"Team LION, huh? Well, I'm afraid that you've wasted your time by waiting for them here. Before we came here, I saw them heading out with a young girl in a red cloak. I might have heard wrong, but I think I heard them saying something about "showing her the best pancakes in Vale", so I'm guessing they went somewhere else to get breakfast."

"I see. Thank you for telling me this," the raven-haired girl said with a slight sigh. Yang was NOT going to be happy to hear about this.

Just as Blake had feared, the blonde girl became very upset over learning about where Ruby had really gone to. So upset, in fact, that she actually smashed her bowl of cornflakes with her fist out of anger. This in turn sent milk and soggy cereal flying everywhere, which in turn made Weiss rather upset.

* * *

After their failed attempt at meeting Ruby in the cafeteria, the remaining members of team RWBY had decided to head out to Vale. They were hoping that taking part in some fun activities might get their minds off the whole thing with their missing team leader. At least that was what Weiss and Blake were hoping would happen with Yang.

"So, any ideas on how to spend this Saturday?" Blake asked. "I personally don't have any ideas, so I'm open for suggestions."

"How about we go to the movies?" Weiss suggested. "There might be something there that we can all enjoy."

"Sounds good to me. What about you, Yang?" the cat faunus asked her partner, who had been silent the whole time.

"Sure. Whatever," Yang answered in a grumpy voice without even looking at her teammates.

Weiss and Blake were both a bit taken aback by their teammate's response, but didn't say anything about it. If Yang was in such a bad mood already, then it was best to avoid making it any worse.

The three girls eventually arrived at the movie theater and began to look through what was currently playing. Unfortunately for them, there didn't seem to be anything even remotely interesting for them to see there.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm not all that excited to see any of these movies," Blake said while looking through the list of films that the theater was showing. "How about you guys? Did you find anything that you'd want to see?"

"I certainly didn't. All the movies here are either ones I'm not interested in or are ones we have already seen," Weiss replied. "How about you, Yang?"

The blonde didn't answer, which caused the two girls to turn their attention to their silent teammate. Once they were looking at her, they noticed how she wasn't even looking at the list of movies that were being shown. Instead, Yang was staring at a movie poster for a film that hadn't come out yet. It was a poster for a new Pokemon movie.

"What's the matter, Yang?" Blake asked as she and Weiss walked up to their teammate. "Is that something you want to see?"

"No... Well... kind of," Yang answered. "You see, I've seen almost all of these movies so far with Ruby from the very first one. At one point it even became an event for the two of us."

"So are you going to see this one with her as well?" Weiss asked.

"I... I don't know. To be honest, I haven't seen the two before this one either," the brawler explained as she looked down sadly. "When those two movies came out, we had already come to Beacon. Ruby tried to get me to go watch the first one of the two, but I was always busy with other stuff. When the second one came out, she didn't even bother asking me."

"Would you have wanted to go with her, if she had asked?" Blake asked.

"I would like to say "yes", but I'm not so sure," Yang answered. "I mean, I feel that if she were to ask me now, I would definitely say "yes", but I'm not sure if would have done so back then."

"Well, don't worry about it too much," the raven-haired girl said in a comforting tone as she put a hand on her partner's shoulder. "Whether you want to or not, I'm sure you'll get a chance soon."

Yang simply nodded at her partner's words, but couldn't help but feel uneasy. This was all so confusing to her, as she didn't worry about seeing these movies with Ruby before, but now it felt like the most important thing in the world. The blonde didn't understand why she was feeling like this, but she knew one thing about it. She didn't like it at all.

* * *

Having found nothing to watch in the movies, the WBY decided to go look for something else to do. Yang had suggested for them to go to the arcade, which wasn't exactly a thing Weiss and Blake enjoyed all that much. But with nothing else to do and the two girls hoping to cheer up the blonde, they decided to try it out. Unfortunately, the arcade wasn't going to be of any help for them, as it had been closed for renovations.

"Oh, this is just great! What are we supposed to do now!?" Yang complained.

"Calm down, Yang! The city is full of things for us to do!" Blake quickly said. "We just have to look for them a bit."

The cat faunus took out her Scroll and started to look for things to do in the city. However, no matter what she looked up, there wasn't anything that they could all take part in. A lot of places were closed down for all sorts of reasons, while others were things only one of the three girls would have enjoyed.

"Well, that certainly didn't go well," Blake mumbled in disappointment.'

"Great. Just freaking great!" Yang complained. "How are we supposed to spend the time now!?"

"Yang, there's no need to get so upset!" Weiss scolded her teammate. "This just means we need to be a bit more creative on how we are going to spend the day!"

"Yeah! If nothing else, we can probably go to one of those clubs you like so much!" the raven-haired girl added, hoping that it would calm her partner.

"That would be fun, except for one problem. Those places won't be open until later at night!" the blonde said. "We are going to have to wait a few hours before they're even open. What are we supposed to-?"

Yang suddenly stopped talking upon noticing something. The three girls had not been looking at where they were going, causing them to wonder over to where Junior's club was located. However, much to the brawler's displeasure, there was a large sign on the front of the entrance that said "Closed for now".

Wanting to hear an explanation as to why her favorite hangout was closed, Yang spotted one of Junior's thugs taking out trash and walked up to him. The underling might have some answers as to why the place wasn't open.

"Hey! You!" the brawler called out to the thug, who didn't seem all that happy to see her. "Why is the club closed!?"

"Of all the bad things to happen to me..." the underling mumbled to himself inaudibly. "The place is closed, because our boss felt like he needed to take a vacation! Not only that, but we also need to fix it up, after a certain someone came in and trashed the place!"

Yang's shoulders visibly slumped down upon hearing what the thug said. It seemed like there wouldn't be anything fun for them to do in Vale.

* * *

Having found no fun activities to take part in at the city, the WBY decided to return to their dorm. While they were all obviously upset over what had happened, Yang was the one who was most upset. She had really hoped to find something to do and get her mind off what was going on with Ruby, but it had not worked at all. In fact, a lot of things seemed to only remind her of the redhead more, especially now that they were in their dorm.

"So, now that we have looked through what Vale has to offer for us, do either one of you have any other suggestions?" Blake asked. "I can't really think of anything fun to do anymore."

"Actually, I was thinking of simply going to the library to study," Weiss suddenly stated. "I feel like I should go through some of my notes. You're free to join me, if you want."

"While I don't feel like studying, I wouldn't mind going to the library. There are some books there that I've wanted to read," the cat faunus responded, before looking at her partner. "What about you, Yang? Do you want to come with us?"

"To spend time in the library!? Of course not!" Yang answered angrily. "Sitting on my ass while reading some dusty novels is not my idea of a fun time! You can count me out on that!"

"Well, what do YOU suggest that we do then!?" Weiss asked angrily, having grown tired of her teammate's attitude. "Since you're the one who is so against the idea of going to the library, you should have something better on your mind!"

"I actually do! How about instead of spending a boring day in the library, we stay here in the dorm and play some video games?" the blonde suggested with a smile. "I've got a good selection of games for us to play, so how about-"

"No thanks," Blake said, cutting off her partner. "I'm not in the mood for playing any video games."

"Same here. I feel like there are a lot of better things for me to do than that," Weiss added, agreeing with the faunus.

"HUH!? But not too long ago, you were both willing to go to the arcade!" Yang argued. "How is playing games in our dorm somehow worse!?"

"Well, first of all, the arcade has a wider selection of games for us to play. There's more variety there than in your own collection," the raven-haired girl explained. "Not to mention, the arcade makes the games more fun with all sorts of added things, like driver's seats for racing games and such."

"Not to mention, you've played your games way too much," the heiress added. "Neither one of us has any chance at beating you, so it's not all that much fun."

"You guys can't be serious! Are you really saying that you would have more fun in the library than playing games with me!?" the blonde said angrily. "Besides, Ruby would always play with me! Even if it was a game I was way better at than her! She knew how to have fun!"

"Then I guess you need to get her to play with you and not us," Blake said as she began to walk to the door. "To be honest, I'm tired of trying to get your mind off her. I need to do something that's fun for me now."

"I agree. You're on your own, Yang," Weiss said and also left the dorm.

With her two teammates gone, Yang was left alone in the dorm. She let out a long and frustrated sigh, before taking out her Scroll and climbing up to her bed. She guessed it was solo gaming time for herself then.

However, after playing games on her Scroll for only about 20 minutes, the brawler had to stop. All the games she played had things that reminded her of Ruby one way or another. There were scythes, red cloaks and even girls with silver eyes that made her think about the young team leader. It seemed like there was no escape for her mind when it came to Ruby.

Finally having enough of being reminded about Ruby all the time, Yang put away her Scroll and got off from her bed. There was something she needed to do, no matter what.

* * *

The blonde had quickly made her way to where the dorms for the third-year students were located. She was planning to go straight to team LION's dorm and demand that she got to see Ruby. Yang was currently feeling so furious that she didn't hesitate at all, when she entered the area occupied by older and more experienced students.

A lot of the third-year students gave strange looks at the younger student, who had suddenly come there. They couldn't help but wonder what she wanted, especially when she wasn't accompanied by a teacher or another third-year student, like Ruby had been.

After asking for some directions, Yang soon found herself standing in front of team LION's dorm's door. The brawler took one deep breath, before banging her fist on the door, hoping that someone would open it from the other side.

As soon as the door began to open, Yang readied herself to angrily demand that she would get to see Ruby, but her words died in her throat upon seeing who had opened the door. It was an insanely tall boy, that made the blonde girl look like a small child in comparison. Yang had always thought that Yatsuhashi was huge, but this guy made the team CFVY member look normal.

The boy was completely silent, as he stared down at the first-year student, waiting for her to say why she was there.

"U-... Ummm... I came to... see if... you had..." Yang struggled to explain the reason for her visit, as the tall boy in front of her was honestly scaring her. He was so huge and mean-looking that the brawler felt like a small child facing against Grimm. "You know... if a certain... somebody was... uhhh..."

The boy narrowed his eyes a bit as he tried to understand what the visitor was trying to say. However, Yang thought that he was getting annoyed by the way she was talking, which caused her to be even more frightened.

"You know what!? It doesn't matter! I'll come some other time!" the brawler quickly said, before she started to make a run for it. "Sorry for bothering you!"

Meanwhile, Oliver, member of team LION, was left standing there, completely confused as to what had just happened. He didn't understand why a random first-year student would be there in the first place, let alone what she actually wanted.

"Hey, Ollie, who was that at the door?" Elaine asked from within the dorm.

"I have absolutely no idea," the huge boy answered, before closing the door.

* * *

**Author's notes: I wanted to return back to the WBY in this chapter, especially Yang, who is pretty much the main character of this story. While I do like the OC's I've created, I don't want them to be the main focus of this story. I think fanfics should be about the actual characters from whatever story the fanfic is based on and not about some new characters made by a fan.**

**I would like to say that I'm very happy to see how well team LION has been received by you. I was worried at first how you people would react, but I'm happy to see things went well.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	15. Facing A LION

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 15: Facing A LION**

It was the day after Yang's attempt at getting to see Ruby at team LION's dorm, which had ended with her running away in terror from one of the third-year team's members. Today, she had decided to get some extra help and was heading towards team LION's dorm with both Weiss and Blake, even though the two girls didn't really want to. The blonde was sure that with the extra help she would finally be able to "free Ruby from the clutches of team LION".

When Weiss and Blake had returned to their dorm last night, they were treated to the sight of a very pale and scared looking Yang Xiao Long, sitting on her bed while hugging her knees and shaking badly. The two girls had obviously been very concerned over the well-being of their teammate and had asked what had happened, only for the brawler to begin telling them something about a man-eating giant living in team LION's dorm. Due to her story sounding way too ridiculous, the two girls had trouble taking Yang seriously, as her story sounded like it was made by a child talking about a monster under their bed.

Nevertheless, the monochrome duo had agreed to accompany their teammate to the third-year dorm in order to get back Ruby the next day. Even though it had only been done so that they could get the hysterical girl to calm down at least for a moment, if nothing more.

"Yang, I have to ask again, are you sure this is necessary?" Blake asked with a sigh, as the three girls were on their way to the area where the third-years lived. "I can't help but feel that it's not necessary for all three of us to do this."

"Trust me on this. Once you see what kind of monsters live there, you'll wish we had an entire army backing us up," Yang responded while trying to keep herself calm. Even if she had her two teammates with her, the thought of the giant she had met yesterday was still haunting her mind. "The best we can honestly hope for is that we somehow manage to grab Ruby and then run as fast as we can."

"I still believe you're making up this whole story about a giant," the cat faunus said with a sigh. "I mean, it was probably just a student messing with you or something. Not to mention, if there really was such a beast there, shouldn't you have gotten somebody else for this? Like some of the teachers?"

"Since you're doubting me this badly already, do you think they would believe me!?" the brawler asked angrily, frustrated by her partner not believing her. "Besides, you shouldn't worry about our own safety! While we might not be able to defeat that thing, I'm certain we'll get Ruby back and get out of this whole thing alive! Once we work together, nothing can stop us!"

"...I would be more convinced by your uplifting words, if you weren't trying your best to hide behind Weiss."

True to Blake's words, Yang was actually trying to hide behind the heiress, who was not happy about it at all. Thanks to difference in height between the two girls, the sight was actually quite comical, as a good amount of snickers and chuckles from those who walked past the three members of team RWBY would tell you.

"You oaf, would you mind and stop hanging on to my back already!?" Weiss asked angrily with an embarrassed blush on her face. "You're making us look like complete clowns!"

"Well, I'm sorry for being a bit nervous here! Remember that I am the only one of us who has seen the horrifying thing we are about to face!" Yang yelled back at the heiress. "Besides, can't you be a supportive teammate and offer me some form of comfort and security!? I'm not asking for much here!"

"Weiss, let's just try to get this done, okay?" Blake said with a sigh, before the white-haired girl could start and argument with the blonde. "I just want to get Yang to calm down about this whole thing with Ruby, so I can go back to my books. And I'm certain that you feel the same way about this."

Seeing as she was on her own, Weiss decided to give up and simply go with the flow, even if it included getting embarrassed by her teammate. After all, the cat faunus did have a point. The sooner they were done with this, the sooner she could go back to her studies.

* * *

It didn't take the three members of team RWBY to find team LION's dorm, since Yang had already been there once. Thanks to her memory, the trio of girls found the dorm without any problems, even if they had to go through numerous third-year students that were either giving them strange looks or laughing at them.

Now that they were standing in front of team LION's dorm's door, Yang had begun to shake even more from fear, as memories of yesterday kept repeating in her mind. She was still picturing the giant she had seen, although her mind was making him seem much more frightening.

"So, who will be the one to do the honor of knocking?" Weiss asked. "I would do it, but I'm afraid that I'm stuck being a certain baby's security blanket for now."

"I'll do it," Blake answered and walked up to the door, ready to knock on it. "Like I said earlier, the sooner we're done, the better."

"WAIT!" Yang quickly called out, stopping her partner from knocking. "First we need to make a plan! If that giant appears again, we need to-"

"Oh, will you shut your mouth!?" the cat faunus said angrily and knocked on the door. "I'm tired of hearing about giants from you! I don't even want to hear that word again!"

Now that one of them had knocked on the door, the three girls waited for it to be opened. They soon heard someone walking towards it and beginning to open it, causing Yang to try hide behind Weiss even more, much to the heiress' displeasure. Although, even the blonde's two teammates were waiting in somewhat of an anticipation to see what appeared from the other side of the door.

However, once the door opened, it didn't reveal a terrifying giant. Instead, it revealed a small boy that was shorter than Ruby, who seemed to be somewhat scared of the three girls.

"H-Hello? C-Can I help you?" the boy asked in a quiet voice.

"...Wow. Some really terrifying giant, Yang," Blake said sarcastically as she gave a slight glare at her partner. "I can see why you were so scared all this time. I'm honestly fearing for my life here."

"That's not the thing I saw yesterday!" Yang yelled. "I swear that when the door was opened for me, there was this gigantic monster on the other side!"

"W-What?" the boy wondered, not understanding what was going on.

"Sure. And then there were unicorns flying on a rainbow with little elves throwing cookies around," Weiss said sarcastically, as she stepped away from her blonde teammate and walked up to the boy at the door. "Hello there."

"Umm... Hi," the boy greeted somewhat awkwardly.

"We came here to look for someone. Are any of the people that live in this dorm currently here?" the heiress asked kindly with a small smile. "Are you perhaps here to visit an older sibling or something? Could we perhaps speak to them?"

"Huh? I'm not visiting anyone," the boy said in a slightly hurt voice. "I live here. I'm one of the students of this school."

"Now now. It's not nice to lie," Weiss said in a slightly scolding tone. "Not only are you too young to be a student of Beacon in the first place, this dorm belongs to a third-year team. I'm sure whoever it is that you're related to here would be very disappointed in hearing you make up such stories."

"B-B-B-But I'm not making anything up! I know I'm young, but I'm a real student here! I even have my student ID!" the boy cried out and took out his Scroll, showing a picture of himself with his student information next to it. "See!? You can't get one of these, unless you actually are a student here, so-!"

"I would advice you not to show that to anyone. While it looks very convincing, forging a student ID can get you into a lot of trouble," the white-haired girl said, causing the boy to look heartbroken. "Now, the person I want to see is-"

Weiss didn't get to finish, as the boy simply went back to the dorm and closed the door. The three members of team RWBY stood in silence for a moment, having not expected that to happen.

"Just what did you do, Weiss?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you were going to ask about Ruby, not scare some poor child."

"Hey! What was I supposed to do!?" the heiress yelled. "You saw him! There's no way that he was actually a-!"

Weiss was once again cut off, but this time it was due to a sound they heard coming from within the dorm. It was the sound of someone stomping angrily towards the door.

"ALRIGHT, WHO HAS THE BALLS!?" a dark-skinned girl yelled as she opened the door. Her face was one of pure fury and anger. "WHO IS THE ASSHOLE THAT JUST MADE NILO SAD!?"

The WBY were a bit taken aback by the angered girl's yelling, but managed to compose themselves. Weiss decided that she should speak up.

"I'm sorry if I caused any trouble, but-" the white-haired girl began to explain, only to be cut off yet again. This time, it was because the third-year girl grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her close, so she could glare at her straight in the eyes.

"SO IT WAS YOU, HUH!? YOU'RE THE ONE AT FAULT!" the dark-skinned girl yelled. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this so much...!"

"Hey, let go of Weiss!" Yang yelled, getting the older girl's attention. "She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Not in my books she hasn't!" the third-year student yelled, as metal claws appeared from one of her sleeves. She was ready for a fight. "Now, if you want to join her in getting your ass kicked, you're more than welcome to do so!"

"Isabella! Please stop!" the boy from earlier cried out as he pulled on the back of the girl's shirt, hoping to stop her from doing anything violent. "It's not really that big of a deal! There's no need for this!"

Just as a fight was about to start, a single person managed to stop everyone before a punch was thrown.

"ENOUGH!" came the strong command of Elaine, leader of team LION. Immediately upon hearing her yell, everyone froze still. The five people at the dorm door turned to stare at the redheaded third-year and saw Ruby and Oliver with her. "What is going on here!? I left for ten minutes in order to check up on the details on our assignment and somehow THIS happens! Did you do something again, Isabella!?"

"HEY! They're the ones who started it!" Isabella yelled in her defense. "I was just reading my comic books, when someone knocked on the door! Nilo went to open it and came back all sad because of those three!"

"WHAT!?" Elaine yelled, now full of rage as she was glaring at the WBY.

Luckily for the three first-year students, Oliver was there to stop his team leader from going on a rampage. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her up, not allowing her to do anything stupid.

"Ellie, I think you need to calm down," the giant boy said in a slightly scolding tone. "I know how protective you are of Nilo, but you can't just let your anger take you over like that. Now I want you to calm down and act like you're supposed to."

"B-But-!" Elaine tried to argue, but her arguments were ended by Oliver giving her one stern glare. "Okay..."

"Ah! There he is! The giant!" Yang yelled while pointing a finger at the tall third-year student. "I told you he was real!"

"I have to say, he is quite tall," Blake said while staring at the giant boy with wide eyes. Even Weiss nodded in agreement with her faunus teammate.

"Hmmm? Hang on, don't I know you from somewhere?" Oliver asked while staring at Yang. "Oh, that's right. You're that weird girl that came to our dorm yesterday, before running away suddenly."

"I wasn't running away! It was a tactical retreat!" the brawler tried to argue.

Before the arguing between the two teams could get any worse, Ruby decided to step up. She walked towards her teammates with a frown on her face, clearly unhappy with what was going on at the moment.

"Alright, what have you three done now?" the scythe-wielder asked, her voice dripping with accusation. "What sort of a mess have you caused now that is most likely going to give me a headache this time?"

"We haven't done anything wrong, Rubes!" Yang whined. "I've just been trying to get in touch with you, but I haven't been able to do it, because of this new team you're hanging out with!"

"For some reason, I highly doubt that," Ruby said as she shot a glare at the blonde. "Now, would one of you tell me EXACTLY what happened here?"

"I think I can somewhat explain all that happened here," Blake quickly said, hoping to get things cleared without her team leader getting angrier. "You see, Yang was really bothered by not having you around yesterday, so she decided to come here personally. However, when Weiss and I returned to our dorm, we found her looking she had seen a ghost or something. Because of that, she pleaded us to join her, when she came here to find you this time, as she told us about a "horrifying giant" that lived in this dorm."

"First of all, I am deeply angered by the way you speak of Oliver," the young team leader said in a stern tone, surprising everyone around her. "He is a great guy, which you would know, if you bothered to talk to him. Just because he looks different, doesn't mean you can treat him like some sort of a monster. Do you have any idea how hurtful that is to him? I believe YOU should know a thing or two about being treated badly, Blake."

"I-I wasn't the one who called him that! It was Yang who did!" the cat faunus quickly said in her defense, causing her blonde partner to glare at her. "Anyways, once we came here, the door was opened by a boy, who seemed too young to be a student here. We assumed that he was here to meet a family member of some sorts. Unfortunately, Weiss caused him to get upset, which angered that other girl there."

Now Ruby turned to glare at her partner, who felt herself shrink underneath the younger girl's gaze. By this point, Isabella had let go of the heiress, as she was more interested in seeing where this went.

"Mind telling me what you said to Nilo, Weiss?" the redhead asked as she was barely holding back her anger. "For some reason, I feel like you might have said something completely out of line to him."

"I-I did nothing of the sort!" Weiss quickly said in denial. "He was just so young that I couldn't believe he was an actual student here! Let alone a third-year! How am I in the wrong for that!?"

"Nobody likes it when their skills and achievements are questioned, Weiss. I should know, since you've questioned quite a few things about me," Ruby said in an accusing tone, causing the white-haired girl to start sweating. "Didn't he show you his student ID as proof of being an actual student here?"

"Well, he did, but I assumed that it was fake, so-"

"WHAT KIND OF A MORON ARE YOU, WEISS!?" the scythe-wielder suddenly yelled, shocking everyone around her. She might have looked angry before, but now she looked downright furious. "Do you have ANY idea of what kind of a horrible accusation you've made!? Forging a student ID for Beacon is a crime that can get you at least ten years in prison, if not more! You just accused Nilo of being a horrible criminal! What made you think that was okay!?"

"W-W-W-Well, I didn't say he made it himself. I-I assumed that someone else-"

"POSSESSING AND USING A FAKE ID ARE STILL SERIOUS CRIMES THAT CAN GET YOU INTO A LOT OF TROUBLE, IDIOT! DIDN'T THAT CROSS YOUR MIND!?" Ruby yelled as she walked up to her partner and grabbed her by the front of her shirt. "Had you said that to the wrong person, Nilo could have been put under investigation that could damage his potential future as a Huntsman! If that were to happen, how would you fix it!? I doubt you could use your family's influence to do that!"

"Rubes, calm down!" Yang quickly said, hoping to ease things up before anything too bad happened. "I know that we messed up here, but-"

"NO! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU THREE!" the redhead yelled while grabbing the front of the blonde's shirt with her free hand. "For days now, you three have been nothing but a big pain for me! But it's not bad enough for you to make things hard for me, you have to drag my new friends into it as well! All I want is for you three to stop and let me be happy, BUT YOU SIMPLY CAN'T LET ME BE!"

Needing to take a deep breath after yelling so much, Ruby let go of her two teammates and turned her back on them. The three older girls of team RWBY were still staring at their team leader with shocked expressions on their faces, having not expected the younger girl to get this angry with them. Even the members of team LION were watching the first-year students with wide eyes.

"R-Rubes... We didn't mean to-" Yang began, but was quickly cut off by Ruby.

"Why don't you three just leave?" the redhead said so silently that her teammates almost couldn't hear her. "I already gave you three what you wanted, so why can't you do the same for me?"

"Wait, what do you mean-?" the brawler tried to ask, but didn't get to finish her question.

"I SAID LEAVE!" Ruby yelled as loudly as she could with her face red from anger.

Seeing how upset their team leader truly was, the three older girls of team RWBY decided to do the smart thing and left. Yang still gave one glance at Ruby, before walking away.

With the three members of team RWBY now gone, Ruby was left alone with team LION. The third-year students were still in somewhat of a shoch of what they had just seen and were simply staring at the young team leader.

"Ruby, that was-" Elaine began to say, but was cut off.

"I'm terribly sorry for what happened here," Ruby apologized sincerely. "As the leader of team RWBY, I take full responsibility over the actions of my teammates."

"...Huh?" was all the older team leader was able to say, as she was once again surprised by her new, young friend.

"I swear that I had no idea that my team would do something like this. Not only have they insulted some of your teammates, but they have also accused them of serious crimes without any proof," the scythe-wielder said in a sad tone, as she bowed her head down. "I know my apologies cannot make up for what they have done, but I sincerely hope that-"

Now it was Ruby's turn to be cut off, as she felt a hand get placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Elaine looking at her with a big smile on her face.

"Ruby, there is absolutely nothing that you should be apologizing to us for," the older team leader said. "I've known you only for a short time, but I know that you're someone who knows how to show proper respect to those who deserve it. While a team leader has to sometimes take responsibility over their teammates, you don't have to do it over every dumb thing they do."

"Yeah, Ruby, don't worry about it!" Isabella yelled with a grin, agreeing with her teammate. "In fact, after seeing you handle them the way you did, I think you've more than shown your capabilities as a team leader! You were so cool and badass that even I was impressed!"

"I-I agree! Y-You were amazing!" Nilo added with a smile on his face. "I-I'm honestly h-happy that I got to m-meet someone as g-great as you. M-Makes me feel great about w-working together with you."

"You accomplished your duty as a team leader admirably, far better than most other team leaders. You have a right to be proud of yourself," Oliver said with a smile and even ruffled Ruby's hair a bit. "Also, thanks for standing up for me. While I don't let my height bother me anymore, it felt great to have someone essentially protect me. I'll be trusting you to watch out for me and my team when we're out on the field."

Ruby looked at the third-year students with wide eyes, having not expected to hear such praise addressed towards herself. However, she could see that her friends were completely serious, which made her feel great inside.

"Thank you all," the young redhead said with a smile and a small blush on her face. "That means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it. By the way, is that how your team is always acting?" Elaine asked. "I know I've only met them once very briefly and heard rumors about them, but I have to say that they seem to be quite a handful. Are they always causing trouble like this?"

"I almost wish that was the only problem," Ruby said with a sad sigh. "There has been no end to the grief I've felt thanks to those three."

"Really? I mean, they didn't seem all that bright, but they didn't seem that bad," Isabella wondered. "Just how bad are they actually?"

"It's a long story..."

* * *

Back with the WBY, the three girls had just gotten back to their dorm and were each sitting on their respective beds. They were thinking about how badly they had messed up with Ruby once again and just how bad their mistakes had been.

Not only had they insulted members of team LION, who had done nothing wrong, but Weiss had also accused one of their members of some very serious crimes. While the heiress hadn't actually intended to make any accusations, she had unfortunately done so. This had not only been a big insult against the team LION member, but could have been interpreted badly depending on who had heard Weiss speak.

This all had also led to the three girls antagonizing an older team, which wasn't a good thing in any possible way. Not only were Huntsmen and Huntresses supposed to be trying their best to work together, but making enemies out of older, more experienced students was never a good idea.

However, the worst part had to be the fact that they had once again angered their team leader. While they had certainly done so before, this time it felt worse. The way Ruby had been angry at them told them that she was honestly tired of the three older girls and their antics. There was also the fact that the young redhead had been angered for the sake of her new friends that somehow bothered the trio of girls. For some reason, it felt like Ruby cared about her new friends of team LION more than her own team, and that really hurt the WBY.

"We... really messed up, didn't we?" Weiss asked in a sad tone. "I know we have been getting on Ruby's bad side for some time now, but I feel like we might have really done it now."

"We sure did," Blake responded. "We really need to clear things up between ourselves and Ruby for this. After we let her be for a bit. No point in going to talk with her while she's still mad at us."

"How long are we going to wait?" Yang asked, getting the attention of her two teammates. "For some time now, I've been told that I need to "wait" and it hasn't helped at all! Just how long are we going to wait this time!? As far as I can tell, waiting does nothing!"

Weiss and Blake were surprised by the blonde's outburst, but understood what she meant. They had been telling her to wait and things would get better, but this time it just wouldn't do. The three girls would actually need to do something, if they wanted things to get better.

"We're just going to wait until tomorrow, Yang," Blake said to her partner. "If we try to talk to Ruby now, it's not going to end well. She is still most likely mad at us and doesn't want to even see us, so it's best we let things calm down first. However, the first thing we do tomorrow is going to be walking up to team LION's dorm. Then we will apologize for our behavior and hopefully make things right between us and Ruby once again."

Yang simply nodded at the cat faunus' suggestion, knowing that she was correct. However, one thing was still playing vividly in her mind. It was how Ruby had said that she "had given them what they wanted". The brawler couldn't help but wonder what this meant. Just what was it that the redhead thought her teammates wanted? And what was it that put the idea in her mind?

Yang could only hope that she would find the answer tomorrow.

* * *

**Author's notes: Next chapter won't be the WBY confronting their team leader yet, but it will actually deal with them finding out just how bad things are without Ruby around. I know that I haven't put much focus on Weiss and Blake, but I hope to at least somewhat correct this in the next chapter.**

**I wanted this chapter to be about the WBY confronting team LION, which gets them on Ruby's bad side again. This would then lead to the three girls feeling somewhat jealous over the fact that their team leader was sticking up for another team, instead of her own. Hope you guys liked the chapter.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	16. A Team Broken

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 16: A Team Broken**

The next morning, the WBY woke up earlier than normal, as they needed to see Ruby before classes started. The three girls went through their usual morning routines faster than normal**, **since they didn't have a lot of time on their hands. Once all three had put on their uniforms, they walked out of the dorm and headed straight to the third-year dorms.

Since it was still early in the morning, there weren't many people walking around, allowing the WBY to reach team LION's dorm without any trouble. As soon as they had walked up to said dorm's door, Yang knocked on it, hoping that one of the people inside would open up.

However, there was no answer at the door, which led to Yang knocking again a bit louder. When no one opened it this time either, the blonde banged on the door with her fist, loud enough to wake up anyone inside the room.

"Would you keep it down over there!? There are people that are trying to sleep over here!" an angered third-year student yelled after opening the door to her dorm. Unfortunately, this didn't come from team LION's dorm, but from the dorm opposite to them instead. "Seriously, what are you three doing here anyways!?"

"S-Sorry about the noise my teammate caused," Weiss apologized. "We came here to see team LION, which is why-"

"Hang on, team LION?" the third-year student asked, getting nods from the WBY as a response. "I'm afraid to tell you that they've gone on a mission or something. One of their members, Isabella, was making some noise that woke me up. When I opened the door, I saw the whole team all geared up and ready to go."

"Was there anyone else with them?" Yang asked with desperation in her voice. "A younger girl with a red cloak?"

"Now that you mention it, they did seem to have an extra person with them," the third-year answered. "She seemed to be unusually young, but I had heard that they were teaming up with a very promising younger student. She was also wearing a red cloak, like you said. Is there a problem with her going along with team LION or something?"

"She's... our team leader and we kind of need to speak with her," the blonde explained.

"Well, you're going to have to wait some time. There's no telling how long she's going to be gone with team LION."

"Any idea of when she might come back? Any idea at all?"

"How the hell should I know? I have no idea what kind of a mission they're going on or where it's going to be. The people who know those things are the teachers and team LION themselves, so you have to ask someone else. All I can say is that they could easily be away for a full week, if not longer."

Seeing as how they wouldn't get a chance to see Ruby, the WBY decided to head back to their dorm for now. It would still take some time before classes started, so they might as well spend some time in the dorm.

* * *

Most of the day went normally for the WBY, as they attended their classes and listened to the lectures of their teachers. Once classes were over, the three girls were left with how to spend the rest of the day.

"So, any of you three got any ideas on what to do?" Blake asked. "I'm personally open to any suggestions."

"Actually, I was planning to go and look through my notes for the day, so I won't be doing anything all that exciting," Weiss answered. "You're free to join me, if you want."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass. I've had enough schoolwork for the day and I need to do something else," the cat faunus politely declined her teammate's offer, before turning to look at her partner. "What about you, Yang? Are you going to be doing anything special?"

"Nah. I don't really feel like it," the blonde girl answered. "I think I'm just going to hit the gym for a moment. Don't know what I'll do after that, though."

"Okay. I'll be at the library, if either one of you needs me," Blake said.

With all three girls having decided upon what to do for the day, they separated and went their own way each. Unfortunately, none of the three would really get to enjoy their activities, like they thought they would.

* * *

Since the weather was good, Weiss had decided to study outside in the front yard. There she found a nice tree to sit under with her books and notes with her. The heiress wasted no time in opening one of her textbooks and getting to work.

However, the white-haired girl was soon facing trouble with her studies. For some reason, she wasn't fully able to put her all into her work. This was strange, as she had always been somewhat of a scholar, finding enjoyment out of learning new things and perfecting her skills. But right now, Weiss couldn't help but feel her enthusiasm die, as she struggled to read the words on the pages.

"Ugh! What's wrong with me!?" the heiress cursed to herself, as she tried her best to do her work. "I used to get so excited over this! Learning about something new used to make me feel so alive, but now this feels more exhausting that listening to Professor Port's stories! Am I missing something!?"

Seeing as how she was unable to make any real progress, Weiss closed her book and put it away, thinking that a moment of relaxing might get her spirit back. Just as she was putting away her book, the white-haired girl noticed a piece of paper fall from the book, having been left there between the pages. She wondered what it could have been and picked it up.

Weiss' eyes went wide upon seeing what was written on the paper. They were study notes for one of their classes. However, the reason that this paper was a shock to the heiress was because she had actually made it for Ruby in one of their study sessions. The young redhead had asked her partner for help in one of the more difficult subjects, to which the older girl had agreed. It seemed like she had not only forgotten to give this paper to Ruby, but to also finish writing it.

Seeing the paper caused Weiss to think about her young partner. While the young team leader could often get on her nerves, the truth was that the white-haired girl actually not only cared about her, but she also even respected her. Even though Weiss had originally seen Ruby as nothing but a brat that had been given an unfair opportunity, the scythe-wielder had quickly shown that she was not only worthy of being a student in Beacon, but also a worthy team leader as well. There were only a few people that the heiress honestly respected and Ruby was one of them.

Respect wasn't even the only thing Weiss felt towards her partner. Before she had come to Beacon, the white-haired girl didn't have any actual friends. The only supposed "friends" she had were those that her father had forced her to befriend for the company, and those who were interested in the Schnee fortune. Ruby had been the first actual friend Weiss had ever made in her life, which made actually made her very important.

However, things weren't as good between the two partners as they had used to be. While Weiss had often been telling Yang to not try so hard to "get back the old Ruby", she would be lying if she said that she didn't miss the way her partner used to be. The heiress might have liked studying before she even came to Beacon, but studying with her partner had brought in some of the most fun memories she had ever had. There was just something about Ruby that brought so much life to simple studying that Weiss had to admit that she appreciated.

Now that Ruby was actively avoiding her team and had even gone away with team LION, the white-haired couldn't help but feel that things had taken a turn for the worse for her. Not only had the joy her partner used to bring to their study sessions left, but every time she returned to her team's dorm, she couldn't help but feel that the room was colder. It was almost like Ruby used to bring warmth to the place and had now taken it away with her.

Weiss missed that warmth that was Ruby Rose. The heiress wanted her partner back as much as Yang did. She could only hope that this whole thing Ruby had going on with team LION would end soon, so that things could possibly return to normal.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake had managed to find herself a nice and secluded spot in the library. She placed her books on the table, essentially marking the spot as hers, before taking a seat and picking up one the books she had found. The cat faunus had taken a small collection of reading material that she had been wanting to read for quite some time now, so she was certain that she would have a good time ahead of herself.

However, something caught Blake's attention. From the corner of her eye, she noticed an aisle that had a sign over it that said "Fantasy Books". This made the raven-haired girl think about Ruby, who loved reading such books, even ones aimed towards younger children. Blake had always found this part about her team leader funny and even somewhat cute. She herself preferred stories that were much more mature and dealt with deeper issues.

Despite trying her best, the cat faunus just couldn't stop looking at the fantasy book aisle or thinking about Ruby. For some reason, her mind was drawn towards the books her team leader enjoyed reading so much. Ruby had even given her a few recommendations for books that she should read, although she had never actually really taken up the younger girl's advice.

Seeing as how she couldn't get her mind off the fantasy books close to her, Blake decided to go look through them and pick out something for herself to read. She soon found a story book directed towards much younger readers, but the raven-haired girl remembered Ruby telling her how great the book actually was. Although she doubted that she would get any real enjoyment out of it, Blake decided to give it a quick look. After all, just reading a bit of it wouldn't do any harm, right?

A couple of hours later, Blake was still reading the book Ruby had recommended and she was completely immersed in it. Even if she had her doubts about the book at first, it had proven to be very enjoyable. The characters and story itself were surprisingly deep, and there was a nice mix of humor and seriousness. All in all, the cat faunus was honestly greatly enjoying the book.

Blake was suddenly broken out of her reading by a realization. All this time Ruby had been giving her recommendations she had not taken them seriously at all. In fact, the raven-haired girl had often even thought that her team leader was most likely just being childish, when she spoke so highly about the books she liked to read.

The realization of how badly she thought about her dear friend and teammate brought a feeling of guilt in the pit of Blake's stomach. Not only had she judged the things her friend liked to read without giving them a fair chance, but there was also the fact of how the cat faunus honestly felt about the younger girl. If Blake was being completely honest, Ruby was someone she actually admired greatly. In her entire life, the raven-haired girl had admired only a few people, starting with her parents when they were leading the White Fang during it's peaceful times. After they stepped down, Blake's admiration had shifted to Sienna and Adam, the current leaders of the terrorist group. But once she saw their true colors, her admiration for them vanished. In all honesty, Ruby was currently the only person in the world that Blake admired, for her strong will and drive to fight for what was good.

Not only did the cat faunus admire her young team leader, but she also felt she was an irreplaceable friend. The two of them often talked about the books they had read, all the great details and hidden messages they held. Blake had no other friend to share her passion towards books with, except Ruby, who held at least the same amount of love towards reading, if not more. Weiss had read some books, but was more interested in study books than stories. Yang read only comic books. And Sun? Blake would be surprised if he had ever opened a book in the first place.

Thinking about how much Ruby truly meant to her made Blake feel very saddened by how distant the redhead had become with her. She thought about how badly Ruby had tried to befriend her in the beginning and had done her best to be a great friend for the cat faunus. Now that the young team leader was busy hanging out with her new friends of team LION, would she have time for Blake as well? The raven-haired girl at least hoped so. She missed her good friend dearly.

Blake decided to head back to the dorm, not feeling like reading after all. But not before grabbing a couple of the books Ruby had recommended to her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yang had gone to her team's dorm to gather her gym clothes. The blonde was feeling frustrated over the whole situation with Ruby and needed to let off some steam really badly. It was the one thing she knew could get her mind off things, when it was necessary.

Yang quickly found the clothes she needed and was ready to hit the gym. However, before she left, the brawler took a look around the room. By doing this, she found all sorts of things that reminded her of Ruby and the things they used to do together. She noticed some of the redhead's books, which brought Yang memories of reading stories to the younger girl when they were little. The comics reminded her of all the times she and Ruby had spent time either reading them together or the times they discussed which characters were best. The video game console reminded her of all their gaming time together etc.

There were countless memories all around the dorm that should have brought happiness to Yang. Instead, they brought her sadness, as she couldn't help but compare the good old times to the way things were now. It almost brought tears to the blonde's eyes, as she couldn't help but think how things were now completely different from the way they used to be.

Shaking the sad thoughts out of her head, Yang started to make her way to the gym. Being sad about this whole thing with Ruby wasn't going to do anything. She just needed to wait until the scythe-wielder came back from her assignment and then things would start returning to normal.

* * *

Some time later, Yang was done with her workout and was walking back to the dorm. No matter how much she had tried, the brawler couldn't help but think about Ruby as she had been working out. She knew that there was something going on that had put distance between herself and the younger girl. If Yang only knew what it was, she could probably go and fix this whole mess. Unfortunately, the blonde had no idea what it was, so she was left frustrated and helpless.

There was also one other thing that was bothering Yang. Whenever she thought about Ruby with that Elaine girl, she couldn't help but feel angry for some reason. It was like a fire was lit inside her every time she saw the older student even touch the little redhead. The blonde just wanted to push Elaine away and keep Ruby away from her, like the older redhead was some sort of a threat.

Yang knew that it was ridiculous of her to feel like that. It was honestly childish and made no sense. After all, Ruby was allowed to have friends other than her teammates. That's something the brawler was supposed to want for the younger girl, yet she was acting like it was the worst thing ever. It was wrong and hypocritical of her to feel like this.

Yet no matter how much she tried to reason with herself, Yang couldn't help but feel not only anger towards Elaine, as well as a strange pain every time she thought about Ruby hanging out with the third-year student.

"Hey, have you heard about team LION?" the blonde suddenly heard some girl ask from around a corner. She pressed herself against the wall and peeked to see two third-year girls talking among themselves. "They apparently have a fifth member now."

"I have heard about that. I think I've seen that girl walking with members of LION once," the other girl answered. "Do you have any idea who she is?"

"Oh, I know who she is. She's apparently Ruby Rose, the one we have heard so much about!"

"What!? Are you serious!? That girl's practically a legend among us!"

"I couldn't be more serious about this! I actually confirmed it from Professor Oobleck himself! He told me that she's joining up with them on their history assignment as part of some sort of an experiment."

"Woah. Wonder what kind of an experiment is that? I mean, I guess it's cool that she gets to test her abilities and all, but shouldn't there be something for Ruby to gain by doing this, considering the risks she's taking?"

"I have actually heard a theory about that. Apparently, this is going to greatly help her school life. I mean, have you heard about the way she's treated by other students in the same year as her? I hear people are constantly talking badly of her and are even bullying her. They're most likely jealous of her being accepted to Beacon so early."

Hearing about what kind of treatment Ruby had been going through came as a shock for Yang. She had always assumed that everyone loved the little redhead, since she was so skilled. The idea of bullying had never even come to her. The blonde felt guilty for not finding out about what Ruby had been going through.

"Hmph! First and second-year students can be such brats!" the second third-year girl said in a slightly angry tone. "Once you grow up a bit, you'll realize that it doesn't matter how old your comrades are. What matters are their skills and how trustworthy they are. A Huntress' age won't matter to you, when a Grimm is coming to tear you apart."

"I know, right!? They're so immature to treat her so badly!" the first girl said in agreement. "However, that's kind of what's leading up to the theory I mentioned earlier. From what I've heard, Ruby's doing so well that the teachers want to see how well she would do with third-year level work. Team LION was chosen as part of this experiment, since they're the ones who most likely wouldn't look down on her due to her age."

"By that I'm guessing you're talking about their youngest team member, Nilo, right? I guess that makes sense, but I'm pretty sure any third-year team would have been fitting."

"I agree. However, I have heard that the reason this whole experiment was started was in order to see if Ruby could be moved straight to the third-year! In other words, she would skip another two years!"

Hearing that Ruby could possibly become a third-year student and leave team RWBY caused Yang to turn pale. The idea of the younger girl actually leaving their team struck the blonde right down to her soul. She just couldn't stand the idea at all.

"Are you serious!?" the second girl exclaimed in surprise. "I mean, I get that she's skilled and everything, but that's quite a leap. Not to mention, she already skipped two years before coming here, right? Wouldn't another skip like that be a bit too much?"

"Not when you really think about it!" the first girl answered excitedly. "If she is skilled enough to go with us third-years, why not have her join us completely? From what I've heard, the first-year classes she's taking are not really a challenge for her. She's practically wasting her time there. Having her join us third-years would not only put her on a place more suited for her level of skill, but she could also avoid the prejudice that she's currently facing. The way I see it, they should just make her a third-year already!"

"I guess that makes sense. However, what team would she join? Last time I checked, all the third-year teams were full. Would she be a fifth member on another team?"

"Most likely. A lot of people are saying that she would most likely join team LION full time, but I hope we others get a chance to have her on our team! I know I could use someone as skilled as her!"

"Same here. Someone like Ruby would be great to have on your team."

Yang didn't hear the rest of the conversation, as she started to run to her team's dorm. While earlier she had felt like she would start crying, the tears were now freely falling from her eyes. The thought of losing Ruby to another team was just too much for the blonde.

As soon as she made it to the dorm, Yang got to her bed, curled up and started to weep. While doing this, she just kept praying in her head that what she had just heard wasn't true. That Ruby wasn't really going to leave their team. The blonde needed the younger girl and couldn't stand the idea of losing her at all.

She could only hope that Ruby would soon come back from her assignment, so she could find out the truth.

* * *

**Author's notes: I tried to show how much Ruby's absence affects not only Yang, but Blake and Weiss as well. Hope I did a good enough job on that.**

**The next chapter will follow Ruby with team LION again, as they go to fulfill their assignment. I'll try to get to work on it as soon as possible.**

**Also, I got new cover art for this story! Hope you guys like it.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	17. Flight Talk

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 17: Flight Talk**

Ruby was in a Bullhead, heading towards the site where she and team LION would be completing their assignment. Despite the fact that she was traveling with an older and more experienced team, the redhead was still quite nervous. From what little she knew, the work that the third-year teams faced was far more difficult and dangerous than anything students like she had ever faced. All sorts of scary images and scenarios were playing inside Ruby's mind, as she tried not to show how frightened she truly was by staring out of the window.

An arm suddenly made it's way around Ruby's shoulders, nearly giving the nervous girl a heart attack. The scythe-wielder looked who had put their arm on her and saw Isabella looking at her with a smile.

"What's on your mind, Ruby?" the white-haired girl asked. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but you look so nervous and scared that I fear you might have a mental breakdown. Is something bothering you?"

"Uhh... Nothing big! It's just..." Ruby replied nervously, before letting out a sigh and continuing. "I'm just a bit nervous about this whole thing. I mean, I know you guys are all skilled and everything, but this is my first time doing something like this. I've never been on an assignment of this level, so I can't help but worry about what might happen."

The young team leader had expected the older girl to mock her or to tell her to grow up and not act like a child. Instead, she was surprised when Isabella started to laugh.

"Don't worry about it, Rubes!" the third-year girl said with a grin. "It's perfectly normal to feel nervous in a situation like this! I mean, you never know what might happen out there in the missions you've been going at, let alone the ones we tackle! Believe me, we were ALL nervous like you, when we faced our first third-year level job!"

"Wait, really? You guys were like me?" Ruby asked with wide eyes.

"Well, not all of us, to be honest," Elaine said with a smirk, earning a glare from Isabella. "When we went on our first third-year level mission, most of us were acting like you currently are, except for Isabella. She actually got so scared that she wet herself on the Bullhead and cried."

"HEY! The only reason I shed tears was because I got some dust in my eyes!" the dark-skinned girl yelled angrily with an embarrassed blush on her face. "Although, I will admit the whole "wetting my pants" part. No use trying to deny it, since the pilots we had then would just confirm it."

"Not to mention that one clothing store clerk that we needed to explain the whole thing to," Oliver added with a small smirk. "We actually had to take a quick stop at a small village on the way to buy you some new clothes, thanks to your little accident."

"DAMMIT, OLLIE! YOU DON'T NEED TO ADD TO THIS WHOLE THING!" Isabella yelled at her teammate, while the other third-year students were laughing at her. Even Ruby was giggling a bit.

Thanks to the embarrassing story about one of the third-years and the knowledge about the older students having been just as nervous as she was, Ruby managed to calm down a bit. Laughter was truly a great medicine for fear.

"Thanks, you guys. I really needed that," the redhead said with a smile to the third-years. "I was honestly feeling kind of scared just now about this whole thing. I mean, this is my first time doing something this big, so I don't know what to really expect. Not to mention, I'm not sure if I'm even ready yet."

"Hey, don't look down on yourself like that!" Isabella said with a grin, forgetting about the embarrassment she had just gone through. "If you weren't good enough to do this thing with us, do you think any of the teachers had allowed this? Especially people like Goodwitch and Ozpin? Had there been any doubts about your skills, I'm sure they wouldn't have even considered this whole assignment in the first place!"

"Isabella is right, Ruby. You should have more faith in yourself," Elaine added with a smile. "I have actually seen some footage of your combat classes and heard about you from your teachers. You should be more than qualified to join us on this mission."

Hearing such encouraging words aimed at her caused Ruby to feel warm and blush a bit. Never before had she gotten such support from anyone, so it was honestly heartwarming for her to receive such praise.

"Thank you all. That honestly means a lot to me," the redhead said gratefully.

"Don't mention it!" Isabella said happily, before a mischievous smirk came to her face. "Now, how about I show you another way to relieve your anxiety?"

Before Ruby could ask what the older girl was talking about, she was suddenly picked up and placed on Isabella's lap. The young team leader turned as red as her cloak from this sudden change in her seating.

"W-What are you doing!?" Ruby asked and let out an embarrassed squeak as Isabella wrapped her arms around her.

"It's one of my specialties! The comfort seat!" the dark-skinned girl answered with a grin. "You can ask Nilo just how effective it is!"

While this show of affection was going on between Ruby and Isabella, Elaine looked at them with a bit of envy in her eyes, before turning to look at her youngest teammate.

"Ellie... Do you have to?" Nilo asked, knowing what his team leader wanted.

"Come on! Can you let me do it, please?" the older redhead asked with pleading eyes.

"...Fine. If it means so much to you," the small boy said with a sigh, causing Elaine to become very happy suddenly. The team leader then picked up Nilo and placed him on her lap, just like Isabella had done with Ruby.

Now that she had calmed down a bit, Ruby remembered that there were some things that she needed to ask about from the older students.

"Excuse me, but what exactly are we going to be doing at the place we are going to?" the scythe-wielder asked. "I know that this is a history assignment, but what are we expected to do, once we reach our destination?"

"Well, to put it simply, we have a small list of things we need to look for at the place we are going to," Elaine answered. "We are going to the ruins of an ancient city that has been pretty much taken over by Grimm and nature. We are supposed to look for things on the list we were given, such as proof of Grimm being the cause of the city's downfall and so on."

"That's definitely different from the history assignments I've had to do," Ruby said thoughtfully. "But how do we prove that we actually were at the ruins? I mean, there must be some sort of records that already exist of those ruins from people that have already been there to inspect them. Can't students just read those records and search for all the information they need on the internet?"

"We kind of need to provide different type of information," the older team leader answered and pulled out what seemed to be an earpiece of some kind from her pocket. "This little thing's a video camera that will be recording everything I'm going to look over at the ruins. Once we are done, we will return both the video and everything else we have gathered on our subject to Professor Oobleck. The video is especially important, as it shows proof that we have found all the things required on our assignments list."

"The video is also needed as proof of the Grimm we might face. Ancient ruins are generally protected by law and are not to be harmed, unless necessary. If we have video evidence of us facing Grimm at the ruins, we won't be blamed for any of the damages that may happen during combat," Oliver added. "Professor Oobleck might care about history, but he's not willing to sacrifice his students for it."

Ruby gave a nod at the explanation she had been given. This was truly different from anything she had ever faced. Not only was the area she was heading to much more dangerous than anything she had faced so far, but the work itself was much more different from what she had done before. To be honest, the redhead kind of liked this better than simply reading books at a library. Any person could read a book and pick out the necessary details from the texts, but this was something that required the skills she had trained. If she was completely honest, she might have started to feel even a bit excited.

"So, what should we be prepared to face out there?" Ruby asked. "I know that we are going to be facing Grimm, but any idea what type of Grimm? Or their numbers?"

"To be perfectly honest, we never know what we'll face," Elaine answered. "Sometimes you're lucky and only face the normal Beowolves and Ursas, but sometimes there's something that's a lot... bigger. ...And meaner... And-"

"I think she gets the point, Ellie," Oliver said to his team leader.

"In other words, anything can come at us, huh?" Ruby asked, getting a nod from Elaine. "Okay, I still have one more question, but it's a bit weird, so..."

"Ruby, you shouldn't worry about what you're going to ask, okay?" Isabella said with a smile. "You have the right to ask what's on your mind and we should answer you to the best of our abilities. Not to mention, your question can't be really all that weird, especially when you think about how weird our team actually is."

"Thanks, Isabella," the redhead said with a smile. "I was just wondering what sort of weapons you guys use. I have a bit of an... obsession with weapons, so I would really like to see what you all use."

"That's it? You just wanted to see our gear?" the dark-skinned girl asked and let out a small laugh. "Why would you be nervous about asking that?"

"Well... A lot of people kind of think that my obsession with weapons is... creepy," Ruby explained sadly. "I think it's one of the reasons I never really had any friends before I came to Beacon."

Most of the third-years were stunned and shocked by what they just heard, with the exception of Elaine who knew about it already. To think that a lovable person like Ruby would be treated like that simply for an interest of hers.

"Y-You don't have to worry about such things with us, R-Ruby!" Nilo said as encouragingly as he could. "W-We're not like that at all, so you can be yourself around us!"

The scythe-wielder looked at the young boy in surprise, before looking at the other third-year students, who were all giving her kind smiles.

"Thank you all," Ruby said gratefully with a smile. "That really means a lot to me."

"Oh, don't worry about it! That's what friends are for, right!?" Isabella said with a big grin. "Anyways, you wanted to see our weapons, right? Well, how about I go first?"

The white-haired girl raised her right arm up, so that she wouldn't accidentally harm Ruby. Then three long, metallic claws appeared from her sleeve in a flash. Isabella shook her arm a bit, so that her sleeve fell down, showing a gauntlet on her arm. She then carefully brought it down, so that the younger girl could inspect it.

"I use a pair of gauntlets that both have three claws on them," Isabella explained. "I often use Electric Dust with them, as it allows me to give a bit of a shock to my opponents, when I'm cutting them. And if you look closely enough, you can see that I have prepared for long-range combat with-"

"A submachine gun in your gauntlets!" Ruby said excitedly, recognizing the gun in the older girl's gauntlet. "That is so well-made! And it gives you the perfect assistance for opponents that are too far away from your claws!"

"Heh! I see you recognize good work when you see it!" Isabella said with a proud grin. "You really know good quality when you see it!"

Not wanting to be outshone by her teammate, Elaine decided it was a good time to show her own weaponry. She grabbed her backpack and pulled out two weapons from it, which were a rifle and a large knife.

"I personally use two weapons, instead of a combination weapon like many others do," the older team leader explained. "I normally use my rifle in order to give support to my teammates, but if something gets too close, I'll have my knife ready for them. Both weapons can also be used with Dust for different effects."

"That sounds cool, but why do you have two weapons instead of making a combination weapon like most other students?" Ruby asked out of curiosity. "I mean, they are very useful and a lot of people like them."

"It's true that combination weapons have their good sides, but they also have many problems," Elaine answered. "For starters, making even a decent combination weapon is going to require a lot of work, materials and money, so they're not exactly easy to get your hands on. Not only that, but they also require a lot more maintenance as well, and have more parts that can get jammed or damaged. There is also the fact that changing your weapon's form depending on the situation creates a small opportunity for your opponent to attack you. While I definitely, see the good points combination weapons have, they also have their fair share of problems that I personally don't want to deal with."

The younger team leader thought about Elaine's explanation and couldn't help but agree. While she would NEVER say a single bad word about her precious Crescent Rose, Ruby still saw all the problems that her weapon had. Not only had it been hard work simply to make it, there were often times she had to struggle with either fixing or maintaining it. With time, this work had become easier trough experience, but it was still a good amount of work to find a single small issue with her sniper-scythe that could cause bigger problems.

"I see what you mean," Ruby said with a nod before looking at Nilo. "What kind of a weapon do you use?"

The young boy raised his arm a bit and let something fall out of his sleeve. It seemed to be a knife of some kind that was attached to a wire from it's bottom.

"I use this as my weapon," Nilo answered and made a small motion with his wrist that caused the wire to be pulled back into his sleeve, along with the knife. "It's called a rope dart. They're apparently used by assassins in Mistral to strike at enemies from a distance. I also use Dust with my weapon to sometimes increase the damage I do to my opponents."

"Woah. I don't think I've ever seen a weapon like that before," Ruby said in amazement. "I have to say that it's strange that a person like you would be using a weapon meant for an assassin. Also, is that really the only thing that you use in combat?"

"Well, I do have some other stuff that I use, but you'll see them later," the shy boy answered. "And I can understand it being weird for me to use a weapon like this, but I'm not all that strong, so a much lighter weapon was something I really needed."

"I see," the redhead said with a nod, before looking at the last member of team LION. "And what do you use?"

"I don't use any weapons at all," the tall boy answered, surprising Ruby. "I kind of have something that works a lot better for me."

"Something better? You mean like a Semblance of some kind?" Ruby asked. "What kind of a Semblance could that be?"

Before Oliver could answer, Elaine stopped him. The older team leader turned to look at the younger girl with a slightly apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, but I'm going to have to this here," Elaine stated. "You see, Semblances are the essential trump cards of Huntsmen and Huntresses all over the world. While some like to use them all the time, smarter people try their best to keep them a secret. The knowledge of your opponents Semblance can be the one thing that decides who will win in the end, after all."

"Oh... I understand. I can't be trusted, right?" Ruby said sadly, shocking the older redhead. "If I knew about your Semblances, I could possibly tell about them to the wrong people, which would put you all in danger. I'm sorry for asking about something that important."

Both Isabella and Oliver gave Elaine dirty looks for making the younger girl sad. Even Nilo gave a look at his team leader, although it was nowhere near as bad as his two older teammates'.

"I-I-I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT, RUBY!" Elaine began to explain in a panic. "I-It's just a common practice among some of the more experienced Huntsmen in the world, so I though it would be good advice for-!"

The older team leader stopped her panicked explanation upon seeing Ruby begin to snicker. The younger girl looked at her with a mischievous grin on her face, with no signs of sadness at all.

"Oh, I understood completely what you meant!" Ruby said happily. "I was just messing around with you!"

"Oh, you little devil!" Elaine cried out in mock hurt. "How could you do such a horrible thing to me!? I was honestly worried here for a second!"

"Hey, it's your own fault for not realizing you were being played," Oliver said with a chuckle. "Although, I do think Ellie's being a bit too careful when it comes to our Semblances. I mean, we are most likely going to face Grimm, so I see no problem with her knowing our abilities."

"Well, what I ACTUALLY wanted was to see if Ruby could determine what our Semblances are while watching us fight!" the third-year team leader explained. "When you're in an actual fight, your opponent isn't going to tell you what their Semblance is or give any hints! That's why I want to see if Ruby can determine our abilities through observation!"

"I have to wonder, though. If Ruby had not revealed that she was faking her sadness, would you have actually told her all our abilities?" Nilo wondered with a small grin. "I mean, you looked like you were ready to start crying and begging for forgiveness."

"NILO, NOT YOU AS WELL!"

Everybody laughed at Elaine's expense a bit, while she herself was red from embarrassment. Things calmed down soon after that, with the passengers beginning to have normal conversation among themselves.

With her questions answered, Ruby simply sat in silence and looked out of the window, thinking about the mission she was on. Truth be told, the scythe-wielder still couldn't fully believe that she was on a mission with a third-year team, and that she had actually befriended them all. Just a few days earlier, if someone had told her that this all would happen to her, she wouldn't have believed them at all.

"Hey, is anything wrong, Ruby?" Isabella asked, noticing how quiet the younger girl was. "If you're worried about our mission, you shouldn't be. We have done plenty of these types of-"

"Oh, I'm not worried about our mission at all!" Ruby quickly said. "I was just thinking about how much things have changed for me. I mean, not too long ago, I was pretty much the least liked student in all of Beacon with no friends. Now I have become friends with much more skilled students that have even become my friends. Thinking back to the way my life used to be, it's a pretty big change, you know?"

The dark-skinned girl frowned a bit at the younger girl's explanation. Not too long ago, Ruby had told them about all the things she had to go through, especially when it came to her own team. The idea that someone would get treated so badly by their own team was something Isabella found completely unforgivable.

"Well, the way I see it, we are just treating you the way you should be treated, Ruby. You're an amazing person and I'm proud to not only work with you, but to call you my friend as well. That's how other people should feel about you too, so don't let anyone ever even give you the idea that you deserve less," Isabella stated. "Also, don't be shy to ask us for help, if anyone gives you any trouble. Even if they're your own teammates."

Hearing the older girl mention her team with a slightly angered tone made Ruby think about the talk she had with team LION not too long ago. To say the least, the third-years had not been happy about the way the three older girls of team RWBY had treated their leader.

* * *

_Some time after team LION's encounter with Ruby's teammates, the young redhead found herself sitting on one of the third-year team's beds. She had just finished telling her more experienced friends what she had been going through thanks to her teammates, and their reactions weren't exactly positive._

_Elaine was sitting next to Ruby with an arm around the younger girl, holding her as tightly and as close as possible. The older team leader had an expression that was a mix of shock and pure rage. Nilo was sitting on the bed opposite of Ruby, and looked like he was ready to start crying. Isabella was walking back and forth in the room, cursing about "worthless traitors" and "undeserving trash teammates". Oliver seemed to be the most calm, as he was leaning on a wall and not doing or saying anything, but if you looked close enough, you could see that he had a frown on his face and he was gritting his teeth in anger._

_"Ummm... Guys? Could you please calm down?" Ruby asked the third-year students. "I know that the things that my team has done to me are not exactly nice, but there's no need to get so upset over it."_

_"No need!? NO NEED!?" Isabella yelled. "How can you say that there is no need for us o get upset, after hearing how you've been backstabbed by your own team!? How are we supposed to just let something like that go!? Especially after hearing that recording of yours!"_

_"I agree with Isabella," Oliver said. "The things your teammates have done and said are pretty much unforgivable. Teammates are supposed to support each other and be able to trust each other. Those three have pretty much destroyed all possible unwritten rules that exist, when it comes to teams. I fail to see how we could ever be calm about this."_

_"T-To think that... Ruby was g-going through s-something like that!" Nilo managed to say while struggling not to cry._

_"Oh God, please don't cry, Nilo! Please don't cry!" Ruby pleaded the young boy, before looking at the leader of the third-year team. "Ellie, please say something to your team, before things get out of control!"_

_"...We're gonna make them pay," Elaine said with a growl._

_"...Excuse me?"_

_"I said that WE are going to make THEM PAY!" the older team leader practically roared, earning herself cheers of support from her team. "Those three have gone way too far with what they have done! It's time someone went and put them in their place! I won't be satisfied, until I have personally done that!"_

_Before the third-year students were able to go and proceed with their plans of getting revenge on the WBY, Ruby stood up, ran up to the door and firmly stood there, not letting anyone get past her. The young team leader had a look of pure determination on her face, telling anyone that she wouldn't let anything get past her._

_"STOP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Ruby yelled at team LION, stopping them in their tracks completely. "Do any of you have any idea what you're about to do!? Are you seriously going to go and attack a small group of first-year students just like that!? Don't you have any idea how bad that would look on all of you!? Especially when you're all third-years!"_

_"But... Ruby, how can we just let them go unpunished?" Elaine asked with wide eyes. "The things they've done to you are just horrible! How can we just let them get away with the things they have done to you, our friend!?"_

_"Because that is the right thing to do and you know it," the scythe-wielder answered sternly. "What are you even supposed to be fighting against? As bad as the things my team has done to me are, they're not exactly any sort of crimes. Or did not liking someone and being mean to them suddenly become offenses that are to be punished by law? Ones that require a full team if Huntsmen to take care of? If you go and attack my team, you won't just damage your own reputations, but the reputation of all Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world! People like us need to be better than that and you all know it!"_

_Team LION stood still and stared at Ruby with wide eyes. Even though she was far less experienced than any of them, she was somehow way more mature than all of them combined. Just how was it possible for someone like her to have the spirit of a true Huntress like that?_

_"You're just too good for yourself, you know?" Elaine said with a smile and went to gently ruffle Ruby's hair. "But are you really okay with how things are? Especially in regards to your team?"_

_"I'll admit that I'm not exactly happy with how things have been going with them lately, but I'm optimistic," the younger redhead answered. "You know how they say that things get better with time, right? Well, I'm kind of starting to believe that. After all, I got to meet you guys and things are definitely better now."_

_"Oh, you!" the older redhead said with a grin and pulled the younger girl into a hug._

* * *

Ruby thought about her conversation about her own teammates with the members of team LION, especially about the things she herself had said. While she was truly optimistic about her future, due to having her skills be recognized and getting to meet her new friends, the scythe-wielder couldn't help but still be somewhat worried. Once this assignment was done, what would happen then? Would she have to go back to her own team and resume her studies with them, like before? And if Ruby did have to return to her own team, would everything go back to the way they used to be or would things be different?

All in all, the young redhead couldn't help but worry.

"We're approaching the point where you'll be dropped off! Get ready!" the Bullhead's pilot yelled to the passengers, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts.

The young team leader started to get her equipment ready, just like the third-year students were. Now was not the time to be thinking about the future. Right now, she needed to focus on her assignment.

* * *

**Author's notes: This chapter became focused on dialogue and such, because there were some things that I wanted to write in this story, such as Ruby asking about team LION's weapons. I was also originally planning to have Ruby's flashback on her conversation with LION happen on a later chapter, but I decided to put it here, so that this chapter wouldn't just be Ruby talking about her mission with a group of OC's of all things.**

**The next chapter will be about the actual assignment, where Ruby and team LION get to work. This chapter got so long that I decided to leave it for the next chapter. I'm not entirely sure how many chapters will go to the whole assignment, but there's the possibility of two chapters going into it. I'm fully aware that a good amount of you probably want me to move on to Ruby interacting with her own team, but I feel like I should write what actually happens on her special assignment, so all I can do is ask for your patience.**

**However, next I'll be working on Securing A Future, as I have already started writing the next chapter for it. After that is done, I might return to this or to Dead By Roselight.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	18. Mission Start

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 18: Mission Start**

The Bullhead transporting Ruby and team LION had landed on a spot that was close to the area of their assignment. They couldn't be taken straight to the ruins they were going to inspect, as the area was very dangerous due to the numerous Grimm there. There was also the problem of finding a proper place to land, so it was for the best to simply land nearby and walk the rest of the way there.

The group kept walking at a steady pace, making good progress on their journey. However, they had to stop and prepare a camp, as the sun was setting down and the journey would be extremely dangerous in the dark.

Once the camp was all set up, the group had to decide upon who would keep watch during the night. At first, the members of team LION felt like Ruby didn't need to keep watch, but the redhead insisted that she would also take part, as she was supposed to be equal with the others. In the end, Elaine prepared five pieces of paper with a different turn of the watch written on them.

"Okay, everybody ready?" the third-year leader asked, getting nods from the group. "Now, no one is allowed to complain no matter what watch they get, okay? I'm looking at you, Isabella."

"Bite me, Ellie!" the dark-skinned girl yelled back at her team leader.

"Umm... If your watch ends up bad for you, I could switch-" Ruby started to suggest, only to get cut off by Elaine.

"Ruby, that's very sweet of you, but we all need to accept what we get like adults," the older team leader said. "You can't always expect there to be someone to give you pity."

The scythe-wielder gave a nod at Elaine's explanation and waited in silence, as the older redhead put all the paper pieces she had prepared into her hat and offered it to everyone. Ruby and the other members of team LION each pulled out one of the pieces of paper and looked at which watch turns they got.

"Seems like I got first watch," Ruby said as she read her paper.

"Same here!" Isabella yelled in excitement, as she put her arm around the younger girl's shoulders and pulled her close. "Looks like we are going to be partners on the watch! Please treat me well!"

"Uhh... Sure," Ruby said with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"It seems like I got second watch," Oliver stated, before looking at his youngest teammate. "What about you, Nilo?"

"S-Same. It seems we'll be partners," the shy boy answered.

"HUH!?" Elaine exclaimed in a somewhat upset tone. "B-But then that means that the third watch...!"

With shaking fingers, the third-year leader pulled the last piece of paper from her hat and looked at it. Her face turned pale as she saw that the dreaded third watch had fallen on her.

The thing about keeping watch was that the earlier you had your turn, the better it was. The first watch was obviously best, as you only had to stay up a bit longer, before you were allowed to rest without any interruptions afterwards. The second watch wasn't as likable, as you would get woken up from your sleep, but you would still have at least a decent amount of time to rest, once your turn was over.

However, the third watch was easily the worst, as you hadn't been able to rest properly before getting woken up. After that, you were forced to stay up all the way to the sunrise. In other words, it wasn't exactly a position anybody wanted.

"I-I can take the third watch, if it's that bad!" Ruby quickly suggested, noticing how Elaine had reacted to the watch that had fallen on her. "I mean, I'm just an extra member anyways, so I should do all I can to-"

"Ruby, I appreciate the thought, but I have to decline," Elaine said and took a deep breath. "I even said it myself. We all need to accept things like adults, so I can't simply push it onto you."

"Yeah, Rubes! Let Ellie be the big, responsible leader she's supposed to be!" Isabella said with a giggle. "I mean, what kind of a leader would simply push the tougher jobs on others, so she could have it easier? Not one you should look up to, that's what!"

The dark-skinned girl's comment earned her a glare from the team leader, but Elaine didn't say or do anything else, having accepted her fate. However, Ruby still wasn't sure if she was alright with how things were and hoped to at least help her friend out a bit.

With the everybody's turns on the watch settled, most of the group went to rest up, before it was their turn, leaving only Ruby and Isabella up. The older of the two girls was grinning widely over the fact that she not only got the best turn on the watch, but the fact that she would get to hang out with her new friend as well.

The two girls were sitting around a campfire, while the others were sleeping in their tents. Isabella decided that it would be a good time to strike up a conversation with the younger girl.

"So, Ruby, how does it feel to work on third-year level stuff?" the white-haired girl asked. "Must be different from what you're used to."

"It sure is. Until now, the only assignments that I've done that have required me to go to the field like this have all been to the Emerald Forest or Forever Fall," the younger girl answered. "I can't say much yet, since we haven't really started the actual work yet, but I'm honestly kind of excited."

"Heh! You must be the only one I've heard about that's been excited to get tougher work thrust upon them," Isabella said with a small grin. "Guess you really enjoy the dangerous life of a Huntress, huh?"

"Well, it's not exactly like that. I mean, I do want to become a Huntress, but there's another reason as to why I'm excited," the redhead explained. "I feel like this will be a great chance to prove myself."

"Prove yourself?" the dark-skinned girl asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I want to prove everyone who has ever doubted me that I do have the skills required to be in Beacon," Ruby answered with a slightly sad look on her face. "Every time I walk around the school, can hear people whispering about me. They talk about all these crazy theories as to how I was accepted, and how I became a team leader. And those things are not nice. It's even tougher when my own team does the same thing. I know I should just ignore them and everything, but it's... really hard sometimes. I just want to show them all that I didn't "cheat" or "trick" my way into Beacon, like many believe."

Isabella frowned at how sad the redhead had suddenly become. She had just wanted to have a good time with a friend, not make her sad. The white-haired girl did know about all the tough things Ruby had to go through, but she hadn't meant to remind her of them.

Getting up from the spot she was sitting at, Isabella went to sit next to Ruby. She also placed a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"Ruby, you shouldn't feel the need to prove yourself to anyone. Not even your team," the dark-skinned girl said in a gentle tone. "Believe me when I say that the people doubting you are idiots. There's no way you could have gotten into Beacon through any sort of trickery, as Ozpin himself would have noticed something was wrong. You would need to be an expert at forging documents and manipulating data in order to do that."

* * *

Somewhere in Beacon, a certain blonde knight and a group of secret villains all sneezed at the same time.

* * *

"What I'm trying to tell you is that the only thing that got you into Beacon was your own skills and nothing else. So you shouldn't doubt yourself or worry about the opinions of others. Just focus on doing your best and you'll be fine. I promise," Isabella finished her little talk.

"Thanks, Isabella," Ruby said gratefully with a smile, as she wiped a couple of tears that had fallen from her eyes. "It really means a lot to me, when someone as great as you say things like that to me."

"You bet I'm great!" the white-haired girl said with a big grin, earning herself a giggle from the younger girl. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something. Now that you've gotten to know us all, which one of us is-"

Isabella didn't get to finish her question, as Ruby suddenly raised her hand, signaling for the older girl to be quiet, and started to look around themselves.

"What's wrong?" Isabella asked.

"I think I heard something," Ruby answered quietly. "We might have some company."

"How many and from what direction?"

"A lot. And from all around us."

"Go wake up the others."

With the use of her Semblance, Ruby had quickly woken up the other members of their group. In a couple of seconds, they were all standing around the campfire, armed and ready.

"Well, this is a nice welcome," Elaine said sarcastically. "Couldn't they have waited until the morning?"

"Grimm don't really play by any sort of rules," Oliver said with a small smirk.

"Smart ass..."

"So, how are we going to do this?" Ruby asked, holding her weapon in it's sniper form. "Do we take certain positions or do we all just charge them together?"

"Charging blindly could get us into trouble. It's better for us to do this the way my team usually does," Elaine answered. "Isabella, Nilo, go take them on! Ollie, stay here for now, until the heavy hitters appear! Ruby, stay here with me and give support for the others!"

With their orders received, each member of the group went to perform their tasks. With great speed, Isabella ran to the horde of Grimm appearing from the woods with her metal claws at the ready. As soon as she reached the monsters, she began to wildly slash apart the Grimm, while also dodging any attack that came towards her with ease.

However, Ruby noticed that someone from their group was missing, as Nilo was nowhere to be seen. The redhead looked around frantically for the shy boy, but was unable to find him anywhere.

"Something wrong, Ruby?" Elaine asked, while giving Isabella support with her rifle.

"I can't see Nilo anywhere!" Ruby said in a panicked voice. "Where did he go!? Don't tell me that he got taken by the Grimm!"

"Don't worry about him, Rubes. He can take care of himself," the older team leader answered with a smirk. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that you'll see what he's doing any second now."

Before the younger team leader could ask what Elaine was talking about, a sudden explosion appeared among the Grimm. At first, Ruby thought that Isabella had been behind it, but noticed that the dark-skinned girl was too far away from the blast in order to be the one who caused it. As the scythe-wielder looked towards where the explosion had happened, another one soon appeared, followed by many more.

"Is... Is that caused by Nilo?" Ruby asked, while staring at the combat with wide eyes. "I can't see him anywhere. Does his Semblance turn him invisible?"

"Correct," Elaine answered. "Nilo has the ability to turn his whole body completely invisible, allowing him to sneak around enemies undetected. In situations like this, we often have him sneak into the enemy groups, where he will then start to throw explosives at them."

"That's amazing... But isn't that rather risky?" the younger redhead asked. "He's currently surrounded by Grimm, so isn't he in great danger right now?"

"Don't worry. If anything happens, Isabella will be able to handle it," the older redhead said confidently.

Almost as on cue, Nilo lost his invisibility from bumping into one of the Beowolves they were facing. His Semblance's effect would turn off the moment he made physical contact with somebody, so he was completely visible right now.

However, despite the Beowolves lunging at the young Huntsman, their claws and fangs didn't get to hit their target, as Isabella managed to pick up her small teammate and take him away. Ruby watched in awe, as the white-haired girl seemed to run on air itself somehow.

"What the-!? How is she able to-!?" the young team leader said in amazement, but then her eyes noticed something appearing underneath Isabella's feet every time she took a step on air. "Incredible! She's able to manipulate water around her in order to make steps for her to use! I've never seen anything like that before!"

"You sure have sharp eyes, Ruby," Elaine said with a smirk, feeling pride for her young friend. "You're correct on Isabella's Semblance. She can manipulate the water around her for all sorts of things, such as to make the steps you've just seen."

"Wow... Your teammates have such incredible abilities," Ruby said in amazement, watching as Nilo turned invisible again and Isabella used the water to create a whip. "I can't help but hope to see what kind of abilities you and Oliver use."

"Well, I think you're about to witness what I can do," the older team leader said, as she noticed more Grimm appearing. It seemed like a group of Ursa had decided to join the Beowolves. "Watch closely, as I show what the leader of team LION can do."

Ruby's eyes went wide as she watched Elaine activate her ability. The older redhead took aim with her rifle, as bright green Aura began to flow from her body and into the rifle, causing the weapon to glow. Elaine fired a round into the Ursa that had just arrived, and the brightly shining bullet tore through the Grimm like they were paper.

"There! That's what I can do!" Elaine said with a grin, as the Ursa that were destroyed by her bullet began to disappear. "Can you guess what my ability is?"

"Y-You can charge objects, such as your weapons, with you Aura, giving them more power," Ruby answered with wide eyes. "In other words, you can give a simple bullet the destructive power of a cannon ball."

"Correct again! However, my power doesn't work on just weapons and other inanimate objects. I can charge up people as well," the older team leader explained happily, before a group of very large Deathstalkers appeared on the opposite side of the forest and began to make their way towards the students. "Allow me to demonstrate."

Elaine walked up to Oliver, who was calmly looking at the advancing scorpion-Grimm. These weren't even your usual Deathstalkers either, as they were at least three times larger than any Deathstalkers Ruby had ever seen. Even their armor seemed to be much thicker than normal.

"So, is it my turn to act?" Oliver asked his team leader.

"It sure is," Elaine answered with a grin, as she put a hand on her teammate's shoulder. It didn't take long until the green Aura started to flow from her body into Oliver, giving him the green glow her bullet had earlier. "Go wild."

Once he had been given the permission to attack, Oliver started to run towards the Deathstalkers. As he was running, something suddenly changed in him, as his skin turned bright red, his hair became more unruly and his eyes turned completely yellow. The large boy's face was twisted into a feral snarl, as he suddenly let out a loud roar, almost like a wild beast. Before the Deathstalkers could do anything, Oliver was on top of them, crushing and tearing them apart with his bare hands.

"Oliver just changed into a completely different person!" Ruby said as she stared at the large boy tearing apart Grimm. "Is his Semblance some sort of a berserker transformation!?"

"And you get it correct once again! You really are good at analyzing the abilities of others," Elaine said proudly. "Oliver's Semblance sends him into an uncontrollable rage, which gives a huge increase to his physical abilities, especially his strength. Once he enters that state, he's practically unstoppable. The only problem is that he might attack his allies as well, so it's best to not get close to him during this."

"Incredible... You all have such amazing abilities," the younger redhead said in amazement. "I feel like I was an unnecessary addition to the team."

"Hey now, don't start talking like that! The battle isn't over yet, so anything can really happen!" the older girl said, hoping to cheer up her young friend. "Besides, this is only one part of our assignment. We are most likely going to need you during the actual inspection of the ruins."

* * *

The battle went on without any trouble for team LION. Thanks to their experience and skills they were able to destroy all the Grimm that had come to attack them. Soon after the monsters had been taken care of, both Isabella and Nilo walked up to Elaine and Ruby.

"Good work out there, you two," the team leader said to her two teammates. "The Grimm didn't stand a chance."

"You guys aren't wounded, are you?" Ruby asked, worried over the well-being of her friends.

"No need to worry, Ruby! Those dumb animals weren't able to even put a scratch on us!" Isabella boasted. "However, where's Ollie? Hasn't he come back from his side of the battlefield?"

Realizing that the tall boy had not returned yet, Ruby and Elaine turned to look where they had last seen their friend. Much to their shock, Oliver was still in his berserker rage, even though all the Grimm around him had been taken down. Right now, the gentle giant was just mindlessly attacking his surroundings, while roaring like a wild animal.

"Shit! His rage has taken over him!" Elaine cursed.

"Taken over him? What's going on!? What is wrong with Ollie!?" Ruby asked, frightened over what was happening to her friend.

"S-Sometimes when Oliver uses his Semblance, he has trouble s-snapping out of it!" Nilo explained with a pale face. "D-During this time, we c-can't go near him or he might attack us!"

"Is there anything we can do!?" the young redhead asked, hoping that she could help the rampaging boy. "Can we perhaps calm him down in some way in order to get him to snap out of his rage!?"

"I'm afraid there isn't a single thing we can do, Rubes," Isabella answered with a grim look on her face. "All we can do is try our best to avoid him, until his rage burns out."

Ruby looked back at Oliver, who was still rampaging like a wild animal. Despite what the other third-years had said, she couldn't just stand still and do nothing, while her friend was in trouble. Not only was there the possibility that Oliver could injure himself while in his berserker mode, the scythe-wielder could see that the tall boy's Semblance was actually causing harm on him. Ruby could see that Oliver was starting to be visibly pained by his movements the longer his Semblance was activated, as well as that it seemed to consume a lot of energy, as he was starting to breathe heavily.

Before the other third-years could stop her, Ruby ran to Oliver, hoping to help her friend. Even as Elaine, Isabella and Nilo all yelled after her and told her to come back, the young redhead didn't listen. All she knew was that there was someone in need of help and that she, as a Huntress, was supposed to help him.

"OLLIE!" Ruby yelled, catching the rampaging boy's attention, who turned to look at her with fury in his eyes. "It's over, Ollie. You've done your part. You can relax already."

Isabella and Nilo were about to run after the young scythe-wielder, hoping to save her from being crushed by Oliver. However, Elaine managed to stop them in their tracks. For some reason, the third-year team leader felt like they should trust the younger student for now.

"It's okay, Ollie. No one is going to hurt you," Ruby said as she offered her hand up to her friend. "We are all safe now. There's no need to fight."

Oliver was still under the effects of his Semblance, but seemed to be somehow calmer. He had stopped growling angrily and his expression had softened. It seemed like whatever the young team leader was doing was actually working.

The other members of team LION watched in awe and fascination, as their raging teammate was being calmed down by the younger student. Ruby even began to sing a lullaby that she remembered her mother singing to her, when she was only a small child. The song seemed to be the thing that finally fully calmed down Oliver, as his skin, hair and eyes changed back to normal.

"Ruby... What were you thinking?" Oliver asked, despite being amazed by what the younger student had just managed to do. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that little stunt of yours was? I could have killed you."

"I don't think you could have even harmed me. Despite what your Semblance may be, you're still the Oliver I know. The kind and calm guy, who is looking out for everyone he cares about. You could never kill one of your friends, no matter what," Ruby answered with a smile. "Besides, I'm supposed to be a Huntress. How could I simply watch, while my friend was suffering?"

"Heh. I thought we were supposed to be looking after you. Not the other way around," the tall boy said with a smile.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Isabella cheered loudly, as she ran up to Ruby and pulled her into a tight hug. "I was so scared over what might happen to you, but you completely took control of the whole thing! I have never seen anyone do anything that awesome in real life before!"

While the rest of her team were surrounding the young scythe-wielder and giving her praise, Elaine stood back and stared at Ruby with a feeling of great pride in her. The older team leader could see why the younger girl had been made the leader of team RWBY, despite being younger than the others. The girl was a natural at reaching others in an emotional manner and was able to get them on her side, something a real leader needed.

_'To think that someone would be able to actually reach to Oliver, while he was still taken over by his Semblance. That is something none of us have been able to do at all!'_ Elaine thought to herself with a smile. _'It's obvious why this girl was accepted into Beacon earlier than normal. Ozpin didn't want talent of this level to be taken by any of the other schools.'_

Suddenly, there was some rustling in the nearby woods, but the third-year leader didn't see anything there, so she ignored it. This turned out to be a mistake, as a very large Alpha Beowolf soon made it's way out of the forest and lunged towards her. Elaine was so unprepared for the attack that she wouldn't be able to defend herself at all.

However, when the third-year leader closed her eyes and prepared herself for the pain to come, nothing happened. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the Alpha Beowolf dead on the ground with it's head cut off. Before Elaine could ask what had happened, she noticed red rose petals gently falling to the ground.

"I guess we got a bit too careless. There's more of them in the woods," Ruby said, getting the older team leader's attention. The younger girl was standing next to her with her scythe drawn out and ready for a fight. "However, the good news is that there aren't as many of them as there were before, so we should be able to take them on, even if most of us are tired from the earlier battle. I ask that you let me join the fight this time, though."

For a moment, Elaine could only stare at Ruby with wide eyes. Before she or her teammates had managed to react, the young redhead had noticed the danger the older team leader had been in and had taken it down with ease. Not only was Ruby a natural leader, but she was obviously a very skilled fighter, too.

"Now this is embarrassing. I thought we were supposed to look after you," Elaine said with a small smile. "Maybe I should stay behind you instead."

"Yeah, maybe you should," Isabella said as she ran up to her team leader and Ruby. "While we're at it, we should probably have her become our new team leader as well. I mean, what kind of a skilled leader lets themselves get jumped on like that?"

"HEY!"

"I hate to break your little conversation, but I think we have bigger issues to think about!" Ruby quickly yelled and pointed at the large group of Grimm heading towards them. "Could we please leave our arguments for later!?"

"Fine..." both of the older girls said at the same time.

* * *

With the added help of Ruby, the five students were able to easily take out the remaining Grimm. After killing the monsters, their camp ground was safe again, allowing them to get back to resting.

However, even if they had defeated the Grimm, there was still the possibility of more coming up, so someone still needed to stay up for the watch. The group decided to go with the shifts they had decided upon earlier, as they felt that was fair.

Eventually, it was Elaine's turn on the third watch and she was not all that happy. Due to the adrenaline she had built up from the battle and knowing about her upcoming watch, the third-year student had been unable to get any proper sleep at all. Right now, she was just struggling to stay awake.

"Stupid third shift... Should call it turd shift... A lot more fitting name..." Elaine mumbled to herself, as she tried to keep her eyes open. She suddenly heard something approach her from behind and almost grabbed her rifle, only to see Ruby walking up to her. "Huh!? Ruby!? Aren't you supposed to be asleep!?"

"Well, I tried to sleep, but I couldn't really do it," the younger redhead explained. "After everything that has been happening, I just couldn't fall asleep no matter what I did. So I decided to come here and keep you company."

"That's very kind of you, but you shouldn't do that," the older girl said. "We still have a long day ahead of ourselves tomorrow, so you should really get some rest."

"I already said I tried, didn't I?" Ruby asked playfully with a big smile on her face, as she took a seat next to Elaine near the campfire. "I guess we are both going to be sleepy and cranky tomorrow, huh?"

Despite wanting to tell the younger girl to go back into her tent, Elaine couldn't do it. Usually when she had her turn on a watch, she would have one of her other teammates there to keep her company. Right now, she was on her own and didn't really like it. In all honesty, Ruby's company was very welcome right now.

"Alright, you win," Elaine said with a small smile, before pulling something out of her backpack. "Come a bit closer."

Ruby did as the older team leader instructed and sat a bit closer to her. Once she did so, Elaine put a blanket around both of them to provide some extra warmth.

"Guess this isn't so bad after all," the younger redhead said with a small giggle. "I'm very warm and snug right now."

The older redhead could just smile at Ruby. The girl was honestly too good to be true. Not only was she kind, respectful and fun to be around, she was one of the best teammates one could ever hope to get. Not only was Ruby an extremely skilled fighter, but she was also a natural leader. It was no wonder she got accepted to Beacon two years earlier.

_'Ruby is honestly amazing. Back there, she wasn't just assisting us in battle, she was actually able to keep up with us!'_ Elaine thought to herself happily. _'To be perfectly honest, I don't see why she should be stuck with the first-years. They should just let her join us third-'_

The redheaded team leader's eyes went wide, as she realized something. This whole test that they were doing with Ruby was so sudden and strange that it was completely unusual. She had never heard about a first-year student being tasked with a third-year level assignment before. Normally the first and second-years would do just slightly tougher missions with their fellow third and fourth-years, but certainly nothing like this.

So why this sudden change? What were the teachers at Beacon testing? They would have to wait and see, but Elaine felt like she had a pretty good idea about what the goal was.

* * *

**Author's notes: Sorry for taking so long with this. I was originally supposed to get this finished last week, but I had some personal stuff to deal with that prevented that.**

**Also, I should tell you guys that my summer break is now over, which means I'm back in school. Because of this, I won't be able to update as much as I was not too long ago. Hope you all understand.**

**Anyways, I'll try to get this whole assignment thing with team LION that Ruby is on wrapped up with the next chapter. This chapter was meant to show how the group acts in a combat situation. I also tried to have Ruby show off her abilities by first deducing the Semblances of team LION through simple observation, as well as getting to save one of them. The next chapter will be about them doing their actual assignment work at the ruins.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	19. At The Ruins

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 19: At The Ruins**

Once morning came around, Ruby and the members of team LION packed their belongings and began to make their way to the ruins they needed to inspect for their assignment. The path was pretty rough, as they had to walk through some very dense woods that very few people even got near to.

If Ruby was completely honest, she was somewhat mesmerized by the forest around them, as she had never seen anything like it up close. When the redhead had been a child, she had often gone to play in the forest that was close to their home on Patch. However, the forest near her home was like a park compared to what she was walking through now. Ruby couldn't help but look in awe at the woods around her, even if some of her companions didn't share her excitement.

"Goddamn I hate this forest!" Isabella complained, not enjoying her surroundings at all. "Why did Oobleck have to send us in this godforsaken dump!? I doubt we'll find anything that is of any use to us anyways, when we get to the damn ruins!"

"Oh, shut your mouth!" Elaine yelled back at her teammate, not in the mood for her whining. "I don't like this any more than you do, but at least I'm taking it like an adult! We just need to go there, get what we need for our assignment and then we'll be on our way back to Beacon."

"Man, I can't wait to get back," the white-haired girl said still in a grumpy voice. "I've got a handful of games that are waiting to be cleared back in the dorm, so I really want to get this over with."

"You think you're having it bad? Do you have any idea how many of my favorite anime series and other shows are getting new episodes right now?" the redheaded team leader asked. "If I was back in the dorm, I'd be sitting at my computer, watching through every episode without a single stop. I can't help but wonder what great scenes I'm missing right now."

Ruby silently listened to the complaints of the two older girls. She felt bad now, as she herself was completely enjoying their journey, yet her friends weren't thrilled at all. The scythe-wielder wanted to argue and tell them how she felt about the whole thing, but remained silent. After all, thanks to her liking things that others didn't caused her to not have any real friends in the first place, so she didn't want to risk losing ones she had made only recently.

"I actually think this is quite nice," Oliver suddenly said with smile on his face, causing everyone to turn their attention to him. "This forest is just marvelous to look at and admire, and I really love the fresh air we have here. I honestly wouldn't mind staying here for longer."

"Ollie, are you joking!?" Isabella asked in disbelief. "You do realize we were attacked by a small army of Grimm not too long ago, right!? How can you enjoy this green hell!?"

"Well, the Grimm are an annoyance, sure, but we are more than able to deal with them," the large boy replied with a shrug. "I mean, isn't that what we have been training for?"

"Well, I'm certain that the rest of us don't-" Elaine began to say as she turned to look at the other members of the group, only to see Ruby staring at Oliver with a big, relieved smile on her face.

"Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one!" the redhead said happily, as she ran up to the tall boy to give him a hug, which surprised him quite a bit. "I was so afraid to say anything about me liking this whole thing that I just stayed silent! I'm so happy to hear that someone else feels the same way!"

"Hey, no problem, Ruby," Oliver said with a smile, as he gently patted the short girl's head. "Also, don't be afraid of liking different things, okay? If you do that, then you're just essentially denying a part of yourself, okay?"

Meanwhile, Elaine and Isabella were staring at Ruby and Oliver with wide eyes. Two emotions were currently going through them, as they thought about what they had just said and heard. One was surprise, as they had not expected their two friends to actually like walking through this forest. The second one was shame, as they remembered how Ruby had told them about how badly she had been treated for simply having different likes and interests. They must have brought some bad memories to the poor girl, even if it had been unintentional.

"Well, now I just feel like a jerk..." Isabella mumbled sadly.

"I know what you mean," Elaine said with a sigh, as she started to look for their last teammate, wondering what his opinion on all of this was. "What do you think, Nilo?"

The redheaded team leader was quite surprised to find the small boy tangled up in some vines ahead of them. He wasn't moving at all, as he feared that he would only make his situation worse by doing so.

"Ummm... Can you guys help me? I don't want to be stuck in this forest," Nilo asked awkwardly, feeling somewhat embarrassed over his predicament.

"Good to see that at least someone agrees with us," Elaine said with a small chuckle, as she went to free her teammate.

* * *

After having their little moment, the group continued on their way to the ruins. It didn't take them long until they finally reached their destination, and once they did, Ruby's eyes went wide over the scenery in front of her.

The group had arrived to what was an ancient city built from stone that had many large buildings, with a huge temple in the middle of the whole area that was the largest structure there was. Some of the buildings had begun breaking down due to the passage of time, but most of the structures were still up. The many roads that went between the buildings were all paved with stone as well. However, the one thing that really caught Ruby's attention was how the plants had begun to cover all of the buildings, making it look like nature had taken over the whole place.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Oliver said to the young redhead with a smile, having noticed her amazement. "This is one of the things I really enjoy about working on these assignments. I get to see places like this."

"It's really amazing," Ruby said with a smile on her face, as she admired the ruins in front of her. "When I was a child, I often dreamed of exploring places like this as a Huntress."

"Well, I guess your dream just became a reality," the tall boy said. "Also, I'm sure you'll get to see more places like this in the future as well. It kind of comes with the job, you know?"

Suddenly, Elaine whistled rather loudly in order to get the group's attention. Once all eyes were on her, the third-year team leader began to explain their assignment and how they would proceed in order to complete it.

"Alright, listen up! Oobleck gave us a list of things to discover and record on our camera. We need to find as many of them as possible, before we can return back to Beacon. The more we find, the better," Elaine explained. "First, we need to find all sorts of areas and specific buildings for this city. These include things such as the market square, the church or temple and the home of the city's leader. And third, we need to find some sort of an interesting object and take it back to Beacon with us without damaging it, so that it can be researched. Any questions?"

Ruby raised her hand immediately.

"Yeah. What kind of an object will we be looking for exactly?" the young team leader asked. "Also, is there anything else that we'll need to do, while we are there?"

"Well, the object doesn't have to be anything specific. It just has to be something that could hold great value in terms of research. The more rare or mysterious the object is, the better our final score in this assignment will be," the third-year team leader answered. "As for anything else that we need to do, there is a small list of different smaller things that we should look for, while we are doing our investigation of the ruins. These are things like art and signs of Grimm activity having been there. Any other questions?"

Having received her answers, Ruby didn't have anything left to ask. The others in the group didn't have any questions either, which meant that they could start their assignment.

"Alright, if everyone's ready, I guess we might as well get to work then!" Elaine said with a small grin, as she took out the camera headpiece she had been given and got it ready. "Let's move out, team!"

* * *

The group quickly made their way to the ancient ruins and began to work on their assignment. It didn't take them long to find most of the things they were required to discover, which were then recorded on Elaine's camera. They even discovered what seemed to be different types of claw marks on some of the buildings, telling them that Grimm had most likely been the reason behind the city's downfall.

With most of their work done, the students were now going inside the buildings, hoping to find some sort of an object that they could take with them to Beacon. For the most part, they weren't able to find anything that wasn't broken. It seemed like the Grimm had caused quite a lot of destruction during their attack, so most of the objects that were discovered had been broken into numerous tiny pieces.

"Have you guys found anything yet?" Elaine asked while going through some rubble, hoping to discover something underneath it.

"Nothing good," Ruby answered. "So far, I've only found shards that might have been part of a jar or something, but nothing all that good."

"Well, let's keep looking," the older team leader said with a sigh. "If nothing else, maybe we can take those shards with us. It's better than nothing."

"That would really suck. I doubt anyone would have any use for a pile of clay shards, you know?" Isabella said in an annoyed tone while throwing a fully intact clay jar into the air with her hand. "I mean, all I was able to find was this thing, but even this isn't-"

"Hang on! Where did you find that!?" Oliver asked with wide eyes, noticing the object his teammate was throwing around. The other members of the group also looked at the white-haired girl and went wide-eyed.

"Oh, this thing? I just picked it up in one of the rooms here, while-" Isabella began to answer.

"Uhhh... You do realize that's an important historical object you're throwing around right now?" Ruby asked nervously, hoping that the older wouldn't drop the jar. "I'm pretty sure we can take that back with us and we would fully accomplish our assignment."

"Wait, really?" the dark-skinned girl asked in a surprised voice. Unfortunately, her surprise had been so great that she was unable to catch the jar, as it fell from the air. The ancient object fell to the floor and shattered into tiny pieces, causing everyone in the group to turn pale. "...Oops?"

"OOPS, MY ASS!" Elaine yelled angrily at her careless teammate. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU IDIOT!? NOT ONLY WAS THAT SOMETHING WE COULD HAVE USED FOR OUR ASSIGNMENT, BUT YOU JUST DESTROYED A REAL ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECT! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS TO PROFESSOR OOBLECK!?"

Before the argument could get any worse, Ruby stepped between the two older girls and held up her arms to both of them. Both Elaine and Isabella saw that the younger girl had a frown on her face as well.

"STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" Ruby yelled. "I know that we are all tired and frustrated from this work, but we can't just start fighting among each other like this! Any group that starts doing that is doomed to fail, so we must avoid that at all costs! We haven't searched this whole area yet, so there is still a chance that we might find something, but we will need all of us for it. Okay?"

Elaine and Isabella seemed to calm down and stepped back from the younger students. Both had ashamed looks on their faces.

"Sorry, Ruby. I shouldn't have let my anger get the better of me," the redheaded third-year apologized.

"I'm sorry, too. I should have been more careful," the dark-skinned girl said in an apologetic tone.

"As long as you both are ready to admit your mistakes and calm down, then everything is fine," Ruby said, taking a step back after seeing the two older girls calming down. "Now, how about we take a break, before continuing our work? I don't know about you guys, but I'm a bit hungry."

As the group began to put down their equipment and make themselves comfortable, Elaine kept her eyes on Ruby. The young redhead had once again shown just how skilled she was as a team leader. Not only was able to calm down a raging Oliver, but she was able to remain calm and sensible, when even the older and more experienced team leader had lost control of her emotions.

To be perfectly honest, Ruby could possibly be the closest of them to being a true Huntress.

* * *

While the group was resting and eating some of their food that they had taken with them, Ruby kept looking towards a certain direction, clearly in deep thought. Nilo noticed this and decided to ask what was on the scythe-wielder's mind.

"I-Is something wrong, Ruby?" the shy boy asked, getting the redhead's attention. "You seem to be lost in thought and you keep staring at something. Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing. I've just been thinking about something," Ruby answered. "It's about that large temple in the middle of the city. I've been wondering why we haven't gone there yet. After all, it could hold all sorts of interesting things in it."

"The reason for that is quite simple. It's very risky," Elaine began to explain. "You see, we aren't the first group of people that has come here in search of archeological findings. A long time ago, a scientific expedition made their way here as the first people to discover this. Unfortunately for them, they were apparently attacked by a very dangerous Grimm within that temple, leaving only a few survivors behind. Ever since then, any group that has come here has stayed away from that temple."

"Haven't they ever tried sending Huntsmen there to clear out the temple?" the younger girl asked. "With a big enough group of skilled Huntsmen and Huntresses, I'm sure that Grimm could have been dealt by now."

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Oliver said. "Not only is the thing hiding in there a very strong Grimm, but it has made that temple it's personal home. It most likely knows every possible passageway and hole that place has, giving it home field advantage."

"Not only that, but having a large group of people inside a tight, closed space isn't a good idea," Isabella added. "No matter how good a Huntsman is, they're not all that strong, when they can't move around without bumping into their allies."

"The final addition to the whole mess is the fact that there are a lot of influential people that want the temple to remain unharmed as much as possible, meaning that the place can't just be destroyed in order to bring it down upon the creature," Nilo said. "From what I've heard, there are still heated debates over what course of action should be taken regarding that place. Some want to kill the Grimm no matter the cost, while others demand that the temple needs to be kept safe."

"I see... I guess that's why haven't gone there yet," Ruby said thoughtfully. "Not only would we be putting ourselves at great risk by facing that Grimm, but we could face many legal issues, if any serious damage were to happen to that temple."

"Well, I doubt we would get into too much trouble, since we do have Professor Oobleck's backing," Elaine said. "He is a respected person in the field of archeology and has a lot of influence in that area. I'm sure he would assist us, if something were to happen. Though, it's still best to stay away from that temple. Nothing good would come out of us going there."

Ruby kept looking at the temple, thinking about what she had just been told. While she couldn't help but feel like she wanted to go explore the temple and possibly take on the Grimm that was hiding there, she knew it wasn't a good idea. The Grimm was obviously a very strong opponent, so it would be very risky for them to even get close to it. Besides, no matter what type of glory or greatness they would get from defeating such a beast, Ruby was not willing to put her friends in danger for it. It was just not worth it in her opinion.

"I'll go take a walk. I don't feel all that comfortable just sitting down," the scythe-wielder said as she stood up and started to walk away from the group. "Little exercise should help me relax a bit more."

"Don't walk too far and keep your Scroll close, okay?" Elaine said. "While we may have cleared a large number of Grimm yesterday, there could be more nearby. You never know just when and where they'll pop up."

"I'll be just around the corner, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about," the redhead responded with a small smile. "But I will call you guys, if anything happens."

* * *

Ruby walked out of the building she and team LION had been in and began to make her way down the street. As she was walking, the redhead kept looking at the ruins around her, wondering what life must have been like there all those years ago. But as much as she admired her surroundings, Ruby also found them somewhat creepy as well. With no living people anywhere in sight and the buildings in a state that made them look like they could collapse at any moment, the whole are was like one big ghost town. To add to that, there was apparently even a large monster in the middle of the whole place.

As Ruby was going around, she noticed something a bit strange in an alley between two large buildings. The alley itself was very narrow, so that only one person could fit to walk through it at a time. However, what was stranger was a single tile that seemed to be a different color.

With her curiosity piqued, the redhead decided to go and investigate the tile. Upon getting closer to it, she found out that the reason the tile had a different color was because of the fact that it was made of a different material. Perhaps in the past it had been painted to look like the other tiles, but with the layer of paint now gone it's true appearance was there for all to see. And unlike the other tiles in the alley, this one was made from metal, instead of stone, with a good amount of rust covering it.

The metallic tile was so out of place that Ruby couldn't help but wonder what it was. It could even be a secret pathway to something that no one had seen for who knows how many years. The young team leader tried to lift the metallic tile in order to see what it was hiding, but couldn't even make it budge. The whole thing was so badly covered in rust that it would require a lot more strength to make it move.

Luckily for Ruby, she knew the perfect person for this.

In a matter of seconds, Ruby was back at the metallic lid, but this time she had the members of team LION with her. The older students had been quite surprised, when the younger student had suddenly appeared in front of them in a cloud of rose petals. Ruby had immediately began to tell them about something she had found with such excitement that the older students had at first had trouble understanding what she was saying. After she had calmed down, the scythe-wielder had told them about what she found and had guided her companions there.

At the moment, Oliver was the only one in the alley, since only one person could fit there at a time. The tall boy was taking a closer look at what Ruby had discovered and he was quite intrigued by it. This was definitely an unusual find.

"Hey, Ollie, what does it look like?" Elaine called out to her teammate. "Is it something good?"

"This is definitely something good. REALLY good," Oliver answered. "I think Ruby might have found a secret pathway somewhere. Do you want me to open it?"

"Well, hot damn. You just keep making things better for us every chance you get," the third-year team leader said to Ruby with a smile and a tone that was full of surprise and pride. She then turned her attention back to her bigger teammate and said, "Yeah, please open it up! I'm sure we all want to see what that thing's hiding underneath itself!"

Oliver did as he was told and used his hands to simply tear the rusted metal lid from the ground, revealing stairs that led underground. The berserker stepped out of the way a bit in order to let his team leader take a look and decide what to do next.

"So, what are we going to do, Ellie? Will we go in or will we leave it at that?" Oliver asked.

"Do you even need to ask? Of course we are going in!" Elaine answered. "There's no way we're going to leave something like this uninvestigated!"

It didn't take long until Ruby and the members of team LION had gone down the secret passageway they had found. Luckily for them, the path became much wider as they went along it, allowing more than one person to go at a time.

The tunnel they were in was very well-made, as the walls and the floor were covered in tiles, making it easier to walk along it. There were also torches on the walls around them, but the students didn't need them. All five of them were carrying flashlights with them as part of their equipment, so they could walk around in darkness without worries.

"Man, this is one long tunnel!" Isabella said as the group was walking. " Any idea what could be at the end of it?"

"Hard to say. It could honestly be anything," Ruby said as she kept looking around. "This could either be some sort of a secret escape tunnel, meant for a noble or someone of that type of status. My other guess is that it could be a maintenance tunnel of sorts, meant for the people that would come and work on the sewers."

"Well, whatever it is, we are going to find out!" Elaine said with a big smile. "And the glory for finding this goes to you, Ruby!"

"Huh? M-Me?" the young redhead asked in a slight shock. "A-Are you serious?"

"Of course! After all, you are the one who actually found it!" the older redhead answered. "Without you here, I'm certain that we would have never found any of this!"

The other members of team LION told Ruby how they felt the same way as their leader and that the scythe-wielder should be proud of herself. Once again, Ruby felt how people were actually looking up to her, instead of looking down on her. Her own teammates had never expressed such pride in her at all.

"Thanks, you guys," the red-cloaked girl said with a small blush on her face. "This really means a lot to me."

"Hey, no need to get so shy and all!" Isabella said with a grin and slapped Ruby om the back. "Now, let's go and see just what you have discovered!"

"S-Sure..."

Once the group reached the end of the tunnel, they came upon a door. They opened it and found what seemed like an even larger tunnel with a big stream of water going through the middle of it. They looked around and saw that there were multiple doors lining the tunnels walls on both sides of it. However, the doors were made in such a way that they blended in with the background, making them almost impossible to spot. They were clearly not meant to be used just by anyone, but a select few that knew of their locations.

"Which way do we go now?" Oliver asked. "Do we go and inspect one of the doors or do we turn left or right?"

"Hang on a second," Elaine answered and dug out her compass. "Let's see... We came from the south, right? In that case, we should head north, which means we should turn left. If we turn right, we'll most likely head out of the ruins themselves."

With their course set, the group turned left and began to walk. Almost everyone in the group was imagining the things they would find at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps some sort of a hidden treasure or archeological wonders that would make them famous? They couldn't wait to find out.

However, the only one in the group that wasn't feeling excitement was Ruby. For some reason, the little redhead felt like there was something important that they were missing, and that they should actually be turning around. Unfortunately, she lacked the courage to say anything about it.

At the end of the tunnel, the found another door. Without any hesitation, Elaine opened the door and the group walked in.

What awaited on the other side made their eyes go as wide as possible.

The group had arrived at what seemed like a large chamber with pathways on all sides. However, what truly surprised the group was what they saw on the ground everywhere. There were treasures of all types everywhere they could see. Gold, precious jewelry, gems and all sorts of other valuables were just laying there, waiting to be picked up.

"I think Christmas came early for us, guys," Elaine said while mesmerized by what she was seeing. "Because we just found the biggest hidden present in the world!"

As the members of team LION ran to the chamber, looking at all the treasure they had found in excitement, Ruby stood still. The redhead couldn't explain it, but for some reason she felt this overwhelming presence around them. Like there was someone or something watching.

From the corner of her eye, Ruby saw movement in one of the pathways to her left. While it was so dark that she couldn't properly see what it had been, she could tell that it was very big and NOT a human.

At this moment, Ruby finally realized where they were. Her face turned pale and she quickly ran to Elaine, hoping that she wasn't too late to warn her friends.

"Ellie, we have to get out of here now!" the scythe-wielder yelled in a panic. "If we stay here any longer, we'll be in danger!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Ruby?" the third-year team leader asked, while her teammates stopped looking at the treasures and also turned their attention to the first-year student. "How are we in danger?"

"I just realized where we are! We're-" Ruby began to explain, but saw something moving behind Oliver. "OLLIE, LOOK OUT!"

The large boy was able to turn around just in time, before what seemed like a giant snake Grimm came from behind him and tried to bite him. Oliver's back hit the floor, as he struggled to keep the beast's jaws from closing in on him. However, even with his superhuman strength, it was proving to be a tough challenge.

Had it not been for Ruby acting quickly, the berserker might have ended up in quite some pain. The red-cloaked girl used her Semblance to quickly dash to the snake and the used her scythe to attack it. The blade of her scythe dug deep into the Grimm's head, causing it to scream in agony, before retreating back the way it had come.

"Ollie, are you okay!?" Ruby asked the berserker, who was slowly getting back up.

"Yeah, thanks to you," Oliver answered. "I owe you one."

"W-What the hell was that!?" Isabella asked in shock from having a Grimm surprise them like that. "Where did it come from!?"

"That's exactly what I was trying to get at," the scythe-wielder explained while still holding her scythe in her hands, ready to defend herself and her friends. "I'm certain that the tunnel we followed led us to the temple, where that extremely dangerous Grimm is hiding. All these tunnels that we have gone through must be some sort of an elaborate secret escape path for the people in the temple, but that thing made them it's hunting grounds."

"So you're telling me that we walked straight into the place we were meant to avoid, without even realizing it?" Elaine asked, which got her a nod from Ruby. "Okay, we are getting out of here RIGHT NOW! Don't bother picking up anything, as it would only slow us down!"

The team leader didn't need to repeat her command, as everyone in the group began to run back the way they had come, running past the treasures that were covering the floor. They knew that their lives were more valuable than any of the valuables they could take with them.

However, as they were running, Ruby once again noticed movement in the darkness. This time it was close to Isabella. Knowing that the dark-skinned girl was in danger, the scythe-wielder activated her Semblance and used it to push Isabella out of the way of the attack.

Unfortunately, Ruby wasn't fast enough to also avoid the attack, which is why she ended up in the jaws of the Grimm, before being pulled into the darkness the monster had come from.

"RUBY!" the members of team LION screamed in horror, as they saw their friend get taken away from them and disappear from sight.

* * *

**Author's notes: I was originally supposed to finish the whole "assignment with team LION" thing with this chapter, but I got so inspired that it actually became a bigger thing. I hope you guys don't mind and are willing to read this a bit more. The next chapter will definitely be the end of this assignment.**

**There were some people asking about the question Isabella was going to ask Ruby. That thing has unfortunately been pushed to the next chapter, as I want it to come up once Ruby and team LION have finished their assignment. It's nothing major that will affect the plot. Just something fun I thought of.**

**Also, I would like to say that I am very grateful and relieved to see how well you all have taken the OC's I made for this story. I was originally very worried over how you all would react to them, so I'm happy to see that they have been taken in so well by you all.**

**I have even seen some people support the idea of Ruby/Elaine, which I am truly happy to see. Unfortunately, no matter what happens, I won't be changing the Yang/Ruby pairing of this story. I originally envisioned and planned this story to have that pairing, so I will keep it.**

**However, I have been thinking about the idea of making this story Ruby/Yang/Elaine, depending on what you all want. Despite my own personal policies when it comes to using OC's, I might add Elaine into the pairing, if you guys are behind the idea. But I still want to specify that I MIGHT consider this. The whole thing depends on two things.**

**1\. If you guys want to see this story turn into a Ruby/Yang/Elaine story.**

**2\. If I can find it in myself to write it.**

**So please tell me what you think and I'll try to come up with the solution that hopefully makes as many of you as happy as possible.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	20. The Kraken

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 20: The Kraken**

Ruby's body was getting slammed against the walls around her, as she was being dragged away by the snake Grimm that had her in it's jaws. The redhead was desperately trying to get a hold of her weapon, as she could possibly use it to break out of the hold she was in. Unfortunately, the jaws that were closed around her were holding her tightly, so even the tiniest of movements required all of her strength.

With all of the strength and effort she could muster up, Ruby was finally able to reach her beloved Crescent Rose. Once she did this, she was able to open up her weapon and break free from the Grimm's hold, as well as decapitate the monster in the process.

However, much to the scythe-wielder's surprise, the creature didn't seem to die, as it's body still retreated back where it had come from. Ruby didn't know why this was, but she wasn't about to find out, as she wasn't about to face this beast on her own. Considering how dangerous this thing was, she would need at least the help of team LION in order to take it on.

The sniper was about to use her Semblance again and run back to her comrades, when the wall next to her was suddenly destroyed. Despite all the dust and debris that was in front of her, Ruby was able to see what had caused the destruction. It was the same Grimm she had killed before, except it still had it's head. Before the redhead could properly defend herself, the monster used it's body like a whip to hit her, sending her flying backwards the way she was being taken previously.

With a painful thud, Ruby landed on the floor while coughing. She slowly got up and looked behind her to see a sight that made her blood run cold.

Behind the young team leader was what seemed like a gigantic round pool with water running down in several directions from it. And in the middle of the pool was the biggest Grimm she had ever seen in her entire life.

The massive monster resembled an octopus. It's main body was massive, almost taking up the entire pool. The Grimm's body was covered by the bone plating that all Grimm had in a shape similar to that of a human skull, except this one had three rows of spikes on it. One row went down the middle of it's face, while the two other rows were on the sides of it's face. The beast also had multiple eyes, six in total, with the biggest ones being located where a human's eyes would be, and the two smaller eyes were above the big ones. And those snake creatures Ruby and team LION had faced were actually the Grimm's tentacles, most likely used to get around the temple to catch prey and bring to main body as food.

Despite facing this massive monster on her own, Ruby still stood her ground, tightly holding her scythe in her hands. She knew that her only chance at getting out of here alive was to fight, since the Grimm would just send out it's tentacles to catch her, if she tried to run away. However, the main reason the scythe-wielder was willing to face down the beast was because of team LION. If she ran away, her third-year friends might become it's next targets. Ruby was willing to put her life on the line, if it meant that her friends would be able to escape safely.

"Alright, big guy," Ruby said as she readied her stance. "Let's dance."

Almost as if answering to the redhead's taunt, the giant Grimm tried to strike at her with it's tentacles. Thanks to her speed, Ruby was able to easily avoid the attacks and cut off the heads on the tentacles. The monstrous Grimm roared from pain and anger, as the severed heads of it's tentacles fell down. Ruby's plan was to keep her distance for now and to weaken the beast by taking off it's limbs. After that, she would either run away or finish the fight, depending on the situation.

However, the red-cloaked girl's plan turned out to not work the way she had hoped, as the Grimm easily grew the heads back to it's tentacles.

"Okay. I didn't see that coming," Ruby mumbled to herself. "Guess this is going to be harder than I thought."

The Grimm tried to attack again, this time by sweeping over the place with one of it's tentacles. The young Huntress was able to jump over the attack, but this was followed by another tentacle coming towards her. Ruby was able to avoid the second attack as well, this time by firing a shot from her weapon. But when a third attack came at her, she wasn't able to get out of it's way and she was smashed against the floor.

The tentacle on top of Ruby rose up, so that the creature could catch her in the jaws of one of it's limbs. The Grimm would have most likely caught it's prey this time, had the redhead not been able to slash at the incoming tentacle with her scythe, pushing it back.

_'This is bad... This thing isn't just big and strong, but also pretty smart and fast as well!'_ Ruby thought to herself as she got up. _'It has clearly learned a lot from fighting fast opponents, since it was able to predict my movements! I hate to say it, but I might not make it out alive from this one...'_

The Grimm moved to attack the battered Huntress once again, this time sending out three tentacles at the same time. Ruby grit her teeth and readied herself, only for someone else to take down the tentacles. One was shot with a powerful bullet that blew it into pieces, another one was sliced in half by a stream of water and the last one was crushed under a large rock.

The young redhead looked where the attacks had come from and saw the members of team LION standing there, weapons out and ready for battle.

"Ruby, are you okay!?" Elaine asked the younger girl, before turning her attention back to the Grimm. "LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU UGLY BASTARD!"

The four third-year students all gathered around Ruby, making a protective circle around their young friend. The scythe-wielder stared at her comrades with wide eyes, having not expected them to come to her rescue.

"Why didn't you guys get out of here?" Ruby asked. "With that thing occupied with me, you all could have gotten out of here easily. By coming here, you have all out yourselves in danger."

"Do you even need to ask?" Isabella said with a smirk. "We might be facing a monster that no one has ever defeated, but there's no way we would ever abandon one of our friends. That's not our style."

"It's exactly as Isabella said," Oliver added. "If we were to run away, we could never live with ourselves, knowing that we abandoned you."

Even Nilo gave a confident nod to Ruby, showing her that he agreed with his teammates. Seeing how serious the third-years were about helping her, the young redhead felt confidence run through her body. They might actually be able to make it out of this alive.

"So, what can you tell us about our ugly friend here, Ruby?" Elaine asked, as she aimed her rifle at the Grimm. "What do you think would be the best course of action for taking this thing down?"

"This guy's a really dangerous one. Not only is it strong, but it's also quite fast with it's attacks and it can even predict some of your moves," the younger redhead explained. "Not only that, but those tentacles it has regenerate back after being sliced off."

"So, how do we fight it then?" Isabella asked.

"The best way is to have couple of us attacking it from afar, while our fastest fighters defend them," Ruby answered. "Elaine and Oliver should focus on damaging that thing, Elaine with the use of her rifle and Ollie by using the heaviest pieces of rubble he can get his hands on. Isabella and I will protect them from that thing's attacks. While this is going on, Nilo should use his camouflage to sneak behind the Grimm's blind spots and deal heavy damage with explosives. Does that sound good to you?"

"We're in!" Elaine replied with a grin, before looking at her teammates. "Come on, you three! Let's get this bastard!"

With their strategy set, Ruby and team LION went on to take down the monstrous Grimm. Before everyone broke apart to their positions, Elaine managed to use her Semblance to give everyone a quick boost in power, giving them all a better chance to defeat their enemy.

Elaine backed away from the beast a good amount, as her weapon had a good amount of range in it. After putting enough distance between herself and the Grimm, the third-year team leader began firing her rifle at the monster, causing a good amount of damage to the gigantic octopus' body. While it wasn't anything massive, it was clear that Elaine's bullets were hurting the Grimm, as it roared from the pain the hits caused.

Close to the sniper was Ruby, whose job was to protect Elaine. Whenever the Grimm tried to attack the third-year leader, the scythe-wielder would use her Semblance to slice apart the tentacles, while also taking shots at the creature's actual body with her own rifle. Thanks to this, Elaine was able to focus on damaging the Grimm's actual body with her own attacks.

Meanwhile, Oliver was using his strength to tear chunks of rubble out of the walls and the floor, which he then threw at the Grimm. In order to make things easier for himself, the berserker had even activated his Semblance a bit. It was enough to give himself a boost in strength, but not enough to make him lose control of himself.

Isabella was working with her large teammate by playing the part of protector for him. Thanks to her speed and ability to manipulate water as a means to move around freely, the dark-skinned girl was able to swiftly move around her teammate and use her claws and Semblance to cut apart any tentacles that tried to strike at Oliver.

Last but not least, Nilo had turned himself invisible, allowing him to sneak around the Grimm without being detected. He would look for any chances to place explosives near the monster, before running away to another spot. By doing this, the Grimm was unable to catch the invisible bomber. By the time the octopus tried to get him at the area he had just attacked, Nilo would already be long gone.

* * *

The battle went well at first, as the group of Huntsmen and Huntresses were slowly but surely wearing down their opponent. However, it didn't take long until one problem became very clear to everyone in the group. They were starting to run out of strength.

While the Grimm had regenerative powers and seemed to run on almost infinite stamina, the group of Beacon students didn't have any of that. They all could use their Semblances and Aura only as much as they could, before they would become completely defenseless in front of the monster. And once the Huntsmen and Huntresses started to run out of stamina, it became much harder for them to not only fight back, but also to evade the Grimm's attacks.

"Sheesh! How much does it take to kill this thing!?" Elaine said while panting heavily, having exhausted herself from using her Semblance too much. "It's almost like that thing's immortal or something!"

The gigantic octopus seemed to notice the redheaded third-year's plight, as it sent one of it's tentacles towards her in an attempt to catch her. Elaine would have surely been caught as well, had Ruby not managed to save her in time. The younger girl used her Semblance to catch the older girl by the back of her jacket and drag her out of the way of the attack, and then take both of them to a safer distance.

"Okay, that got WAY too close!" Elaine said with wide eyes, thinking about what could have happened to her, had the Grimm caught her. "Thanks for the save, Ruby!"

"A-... A-Any... time..." Ruby barely managed to answer, as she was breathing very heavily now. The scythe-wielder was practically running on the remains of her stamina by now, and she had to lean on her weapon in order to stay up.

Elaine was obviously shocked by the younger girl's condition. Ruby was normally so full of energy even in battle that to see her in such a state was enough to bring chills. Her condition was a clear sign that the battle was not going well for them at all.

_'Ruby's barely able to stand up anymore, and I doubt the others are doing any better either!'_ the older team leader thought, as she looked at her comrades and saw that they weren't doing much better. _'I need to find some way to either end this fight or a way out of here! The problem is that the damn monster can follow us practically anywhere with those tentacles it has. No wonder no one has come out of here alive before. This place is practically a perfect hunting ground for that octopus!'_

Seeing as how victory was not likely for them, Elaine decided that they would attempt to escape. With a determined look on her face, she loaded her last clip of ammo, charged the bullets with her Semblance and fired right into the Grimm's eyes. The best roared in pain, as it was momentarily blinded.

"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!" the sniper yelled, getting the attention of all of her comrades. "RUN TO THE EXIT THAT'S BEHIND ME! WE ARE GOING TO-"

"ELLIE, WATCH OUT!" Ruby yelled, before tackling the older girl out of the way of an incoming tentacle, which destroyed the exit that had been behind them.

The Grimm wasn't done with it's destruction yet, as it began to lash madly with it's limbs at almost every other exit there was. Once it was done, there was only one way out that wasn't completely blocked by rubble, and it was right behind the monster.

"What the-!? Did it understand what we were going to do!?" Elaine asked with wide eyes.

"I guess it makes sense. This thing must be centuries old," Ruby said. "During it's lifetime, it must have encountered numerous people and heard them talking. It has probably learned to notice when it's prey is thinking about escaping."

"DAMMIT! Thanks to that monster realizing what we were going to do, our only way of escape is right behind it!" the older girl cursed. "We're either going to need to kill that thing or somehow incapacitate it in order to-"

A sudden pained scream cut off Elaine. The third-year leader and Ruby turned to see that the Grimm had finally found Nilo. Thanks to his exhaustion, the young boy's Semblance had begun to drop, revealing his location to the monster. Once he was found, the Grimm wasted no time to bring down one of it's tentacles on top of the boy. It was only thanks to his remaining Aura that Nilo wasn't immediately crushed to death, but he was still pinned under the creature's gigantic limb.

"NILO!" Oliver yelled and rushed to help his young teammate. "Hang in there, pal! I'm-"

The berserker had been so focused on his friend that he failed to notice another attack coming towards him, as the Grimm used another one of it's tentacles to pin him down to the ground. Oliver just barely managed to hold back the limb's jaws from closing on him, but he didn't have the strength to push back the monster's attack, and the jaws around him were starting to close slowly.

Isabella tried to go assist her teammates, but was also quickly snatched up by the Grimm, this time by having one of the tentacles wrap tightly around her body. The dark-skinned girl screamed in pain, as she felt her body being crushed. She only avoided death because of her Aura, but it was broken from the attack, and the giant octopus began to take her towards it's mouth.

"I have to save her!" Ruby said before disappearing in a cloud of rose petals.

"Ruby, wait!" Elaine barely managed to say, but the younger redhead had already left.

The giant tentacle wrapped around Isabella was suddenly cut off, as Ruby used her scythe to aid her friend. The dark-skinned girl fell to the floor with a thud, along with the severed limb that had been holding her not too long ago. She was hurt and exhausted, but still breathing.

Before Ruby could go and help Isabella, the Grimm struck her once again. While the scythe-wielder would have normally been able to escape the attack, her exhaustion seemed to catch up to her, allowing the monster to successfully hit her. The Grimm seemed to have grown especially tired of Ruby, as it put as much of it's strength into the attack as it could, which sent the redhead flying through the air, before she crashed into a wall and fell down.

Elaine's face turned pale over seeing her young friend get hit like a golf ball. She could feel the chills run down her spine, as she watched Ruby's body fall to the ground and remain unmoving. To the best of her knowledge, the first-year student was dead. But before she could run up to the girl and check her condition, Elaine also had a tentacle wrap itself around her body and squeeze her tightly.

While the members of team LION were all in the Grimm's hands, Ruby had managed to wake up. She looked around and saw the peril her friends were in, which triggered certain images in her head. Memories of her mother flashed through her mind, along with images of Taiyang and Yang broken and crying over the loss of Summer Rose.

"Never... again..." Ruby managed to say, as she began to slowly get up. "I will... never... allow something like that... to happen AGAIN!"

As soon as she had gotten up, the scythe-wielder used all of her remaining strength to push her Semblance to it's maximum. With the speed she gained from this, Ruby was able to cut off all of the Grimm's limbs before it even managed to realize what had happened. This in turn freed the members of team LION from it's clutches.

Just as the Grimm was beginning to realize that all of it's tentacles had been cut off, Ruby used her Semblance to run all around it's main body, slashing wildly at any part of the monster's body she could reach. Deep wounds appeared all over the Grimm and it's eyes were all taken out, blinding it completely. The beast could only roar in pain, as it couldn't do anything to defend itself.

Meanwhile, the members of team LION were watching with wide eyes as a red blur came out of nowhere and dealt immense damage on the Grimm they had been fighting. Just a few seconds ago, they had been certain that they were going to lose their lives. Now, they couldn't help but feel hope once again, as they saw the monster get it's limbs severed and it's sight get taken from it.

"W-What just happened?" Nilo asked as he managed to crawl out from underneath the severed Grimm tentacle. "Who just did that?"

Elaine was about to say that she didn't know, but then she noticed something red from the corner of her eye. It was Ruby, who had just stopped using her Semblance and was leaning on her scythe once again. However, this time the young redhead wasn't simply exhausted as the expression on her face was one of pure agony and her body was trembling a lot. The girl then threw up blood on the floor, before falling down.

"RUBY!" Elaine screamed as she and her teammates rushed to the scythe-wielder's aid. Once they reached her, they saw that her body was twitching violently, like she was in constant pain. The third-year team leader gathered her young friend in her arms and held her gently. "Oh God... Hang on, Ruby! We're going to get you out of here! Just hang in there!"

"Thanks to her, we now have a chance to get out of here!" Oliver said while pointing at the exit that was located behind the Grimm. "We need to get out of here before that thing regains it's strength!"

Elaine nodded and gently lifted Ruby up in her arms. Isabella made sure to pick up the first-year student's weapon, as she knew just how important it was to her. Once that was done, team LION began to run as fast as they could towards their way out.

However, before they left, Nilo stopped at the exit, letting his teammates run past him. The older team members soon stopped in their tracks as well, once they noticed their youngest member's sudden stop.

"Nilo, what are you waiting for!?" Isabella asked. "We need to get out of here NOW!"

"That thing hurt Ruby," the small boy said in a cold tone that his teammates had never heard him use. "It needs to pay for that."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, Nilo pulled a bomb from his backpack. He pressed a few buttons on it, before throwing it at the Grimm. After he was done, he resumed running away from the monster with his teammates following behind.

Once the group had gotten away from the Grimm, there was a large explosion that shook the whole structure around them. A massive cloud of dust even washed over them from behind, where the explosion had occured. The blast had been so powerful that all members of team LION fell to the floor.

"Geeze, Nilo, what the hell was that?" Elaine asked with wide eyes, wondering what her young teammate had just used on the Grimm.

"Something a bit stronger than what I normally use. I had prepared it just in case there ever was a time I would need it," Nilo explained while getting up. "I couldn't use it before, as we would have all gotten caught in the blast. But when we were getting out, I felt the time was right to use it."

"...Okay, from now on, you're officially the scariest member of our team."

* * *

Some time later, Ruby was beginning to wake up after losing her consciousness due to pushing her body was past it's limits. The redhead's body was burning with pain from all the stress that had been put on it and she could barely move. She opened her eyes and saw a stone roof above her that she couldn't recognize. A warm blanket had been draped over her body and a pillow had been placed under her head, making her rest as comfortable as possible.

"Hey guys! I think our brave heroine has finally woken up!" Ruby heard Isabella's excited voice yell from afar. It didn't take long until the members of team LION were all surrounding her, staring down at her with relieved smiles on their faces.

"Glad to see you awake, Ruby," Elaine said happily. "You gave us quite a scare out there. The way you recklessly damaged your body with that stunt of yours really had us worried."

"Sorry about that..." Ruby replied with a small smile and a tired tone of voice. "I kind of did it without thinking things through..."

"As much as I would like to be angry with you, you did save our lives, so I'll let it slide this time," the third-year team leader said, before playfully flicking the younger girl's nose. "But if you do it again, I'm going to have to really punish you."

"Heh... I'll keep that in mind..." the younger girl said. "I'm just honestly glad that everyone's safe..."

"In case you're worried about your weapon, don't be. We managed to take it with us and it seems to be in good condition," Isabella told her young friend, knowing how much she cared about her scythe. "You should still probably take a good look at it, once you've recovered. It was a pretty rough battle, after all."

"Thanks... It's good to know that my sweetheart's safe..."

"You'll be out of action for a while. The strain your body went through and the exhaustion of your Aura are going to keep you in bed for some time," Oliver explained. "However, we doubt there is going to be any real damage left, once your Aura gets back up and starts to fix you. For now, though, you should rest and leave the whole assignment to us. We'll get what we need, so you don't need to worry."

Ruby simply gave a small nod and closed her eyes, trying to get back to sleep. Seeing how their first-year friend was trying to rest, the members of team LION began to walk away from the young redhead, hoping to give her some peace.

However, before the third-years left, Isabella remembered something.

"Hey, Ruby! Before I go, I need to ask you something!" the dark-skinned girl said, getting the younger girl's attention. "I was supposed to ask it back when we were on the watch on the first day of our assignment, but I forgot about it when the Grimm attacked us!"

"Hey, let her rest, will you!?" Elaine scolded her teammate angrily. "Ruby has had a rough day and she doesn't need YOU to keep her awake!"

"It'll only take a second!" Isabella argued. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be interested to hear her answer on my question!"

"What are you talking about?" the third-year team leader asked, as Oliver and Nilo were also listening to the conversation out of curiosity.

"You'll see," the white-haired girl replied, before turning back to the first-year. "Ruby, which one of us do you think is the coolest?"

There was a moment of silence, as everyone simply stared at Isabella. Her teammates were wondering if the dark-skinned girl was really serious.

"Seriously!?" Elaine yelled angrily. "THAT is what you felt was so important that you couldn't let her rest!? What's wrong with you!?"

"Oh, don't even pretend like you're not interested!" Isabella shot back at her team leader.

"Of all the things..." Oliver mumbled and rolled his eyes.

"That's an easy question to answer!" Ruby replied suddenly, getting the attention of team LION. "I think the coolest one of you is Oliver!"

"...WHAT!?" both Elaine and Isabella yelled at the same time, shocked over the answer they were given.

"Well, that was unexpected," Oliver said with slightly widened eyes. "I'm honored by this, of course, but mind if I ask your reasons for your answer?"

"Why wouldn't I think you're the coolest? You're always the calmest and most composed member in the group, until you use your Semblance, which is an awesome ability. Not to mention, you often surprise me with how great company you are," Ruby explained. "I honestly can't think of anyone more cool than you."

"B-B-But what about me?" Elaine asked desperately.

"Or me!? I'm pretty much coolness personified!" Isabella yelled.

"Now now, don't get all upset," Oliver said to his teammates, although you could clearly see a small smirk on his face. "It's not really such a big deal."

"That's easy for you to say!" the dark-skinned girl yelled at the tall boy. "Besides, you should at least wipe that smirk off your face, before saying something like that!"

"W-Well, maybe Ollie is number one, but who is number two?" Elaine asked Ruby, hoping that she could at least claim that title.

"The second coolest person is Nilo!" the younger girl answered with a big smile. "I admire how he's willing to push forward, despite being so shy and scared. He's someone I can even relate to, which makes him even cooler in my eyes."

"H-Huh!? M-M-M-Me!?" the shy boy practically squeaked.

"Would you look at that, my friend. Seems you've got yourself a fan!" Oliver said jokingly with a grin on his face, as he picked up Nilo and placed him on his shoulder. "How about we go and leave the lame ones in our team with Ruby? Perhaps that way they can become as cool as we are."

The large boy walked away with his young friend while chuckling to himself, leaving behind Ruby and the two girls of team LION, who were frozen still from shock. Neither of them had expected to lose to their two teammates the way they had.

"How about we don't ask who is the third coolest in our team? I doubt it would make either one of us feel any better," Elaine said to Isabella.

"Agreed."

* * *

**Author's notes: And with that, the whole assignment that Ruby and team LION were sent on is finally done. Apparently, it seems I might have given the idea that this story is going to end soon after the whole assignment is done. I would like to correct this by stating that we are NOT close to the end yet. In fact, I'm not even sure how far we are in this story, as I'm still kind of thinking things through. I'm still going to work on the relationship between Ruby and her own team, especially when it comes to Yang. This whole part of the story just became bigger than I originally thought, as I started adding stuff to it while writing it.**

**I decided to save the whole bit about Isabella's question to the end of this chapter, as it felt natural to place it there. As I have stated before, it wasn't anything big or important. Just something fun I thought of while writing this story.**

**Now, there's one big thing that I need to address here. It's about the possibility of making this story Ruby/Yang/Elaine. I have decided to keep this story's pairing as simply Ruby/Yang and not add a third person to the mix. While the suggestion did get support, there was a good amount of people not really behind the idea. Not only did the people not supporting the idea give some good reasons as to why I shouldn't add a third person to the pairing, I also wasn't personally behind it.**

**I would like to offer my deepest apologies to those who wished for the extra person getting added to the pairing. I know some of you might have gotten excited by the idea, but I'm afraid it won't happen. I mostly put out the idea in order to see how much it would be liked. Had there been a big amount of support for the idea, I might have gone with it. I'm sorry if I gave anyone the wrong idea.**

**Anyways, the next chapter will be about Ruby's return to Beacon, where we'll see the WBY again. After that, I'm going to take a break from this story, so I can work on other stories and figure out how to continue this one properly.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**

**P.S. I know naming the octopus Grimm Kraken isn't exactly original, but what else was I supposed to call it?**


	21. Back To Beacon

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 21: Back To Beacon**

It had been almost a week since Ruby had gone with team LION on their history assignment and Yang had become a worried wreck in that time. While she knew that Ruby was being accompanied by a team of much more experienced students, she couldn't help but worry over what could happen to the young redhead. After all, she had been told just how dangerous the work of third-years could be, so she had a good reason to be worried.

It didn't help that Oobleck had refused to tell the blonde and her other teammates just where their team leader had gone. While it was most likely that the professor had done it in order to prevent the WBY from going after their team leader, the lack of knowledge did not help how Yang was feeling.

While Weiss and Blake were doing better than their blonde teammate, they were also very worried over Ruby. They knew that the scythe-wielder was a skilled fighter and that the people she would be traveling with were also strong, but that did little to change the way they felt about this whole thing. No matter how they looked at it, Ruby was currently in some dangerous mission, where anything could happen to her and they wouldn't be able to help at all. The only thing they could do was hope that their team leader would return safely.

The WBY were sitting in the cafeteria, trying to eat lunch, but their worry over Ruby had taken away their appetites. Weiss and Blake had only managed to take small bites out of their own meals, while Yang's food remained completely untouched.

"Yang, you really should eat," Blake said to her partner, worried over her lack of an appetite that had been going on ever since Ruby left. "It's not good for you to go hungry."

"I'm not all that hungry," Yang said and pushed her tray of food away from herself. "You guys can have it, if you want."

"Not only do I doubt that I would ever enjoy your "meal", but I can't take it when you need it," Weiss said with slight disgust in her voice while looking at the brawler's bacon sandwich. "As a Huntress, you should always be making sure your body is as healthy as possible. Otherwise, you won't be able to fulfill your duty properly."

"I couldn't care less about my "duty" even if I tried," Yang said with a glare directed at the heiress. "Do you really think something like that really matters to me when I have no idea how Ruby's doing? She could be being chased by Grimm right now for all we know!"

"Yang, stop that. Getting moody isn't going to help anyone at all, especially yourself," Blake said sternly, not liking the tone her partner had just used. "Believe me when I say that we are just as worried as you are, but there's nothing we can do. We just have to trust team LION in keeping Ruby safe."

Yang was about to respond to the cat faunus' words, but she noticed something from the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw a large amount of third and fourth-year students running to the front door of the school. It was almost like there was some sort of a bog celebrity arriving there and everyone was now hurrying to see them.

The blonde looked around a bit and saw that some of the first and second-year students had noticed the rush their upperclassmen were in and they seemed just as confused as she was. It was certainly odd to see so many people acting in such a way, especially when they were the more experienced students around.

"That's weird. What could possibly be happening to get them all so excited like that?" Weiss wondered.

"Only one way to really find out," Yang said and got up from her seat. She ran up to one of the third-year students in the hopes of getting some answers. "Excuse me, but what's going on? Why are so many people running outside?"

"Oh, you guys haven't probably heard, since you're still first-years. Well, we just heard that team LION and Ruby Rose are returning from their assignment," the third-year girl answered. "We heard some crazy things happened on their mission, so we all want to go see them, especially Ruby."

"Hang on, what do you mean by crazy things?" the blonde asked with wide eyes and a pale face.

"From what I heard, they went to an area that was infamous for a very large and dangerous Grimm that was living there. Because of it, no one has been able to properly investigate the place they were at. But now thanks to them, that Grimm has been defeated!" the older student explained excitedly. "Now, I need to go, before all I miss my chance to meet the whole group."

The WBY watched as the third-year girl ran off and joined with her own teammates, leaving behind the three first-years who were quite shocked by what they had just heard.

"Ruby faced something that dangerous?" Weiss asked. "What happened on that assignment?"

"I don't know, but we are definitely going to find out," Blake replied. "Once Ruby's here, we are going to have her tell us every detail of what she went through with team LION. Agreed?"

While the heiress agreed with her faunus teammate, Yang remained completely silent. The way she saw it, her worst fears had come true with Ruby. The little redhead had gone somewhere too dangerous and had almost lost her life. And to make the whole thing worse, she had been unable to help at all.

Without saying even a word, the blonde started to run to the direction all the older students were going, with Weiss and Blake soon following after her. She needed to see Ruby and she needed to do it now.

Once the WBY made it out to Beacon's front yard, they saw a large crowd of people that was mostly made up of third and fourth-years. The crowd seemed to be gathered around something, which the three girls assumed was Ruby and team LION.

The trio began to push into the mass of people, hoping to be able to see their team leader at some point. After pushing through the older students for some time, the WBY were able to get deep enough into the crowd to see Ruby, as well as the members of team LION. A lot of people in the crowd were asking questions from the other team in the hopes of getting details about the assignment they had been on.

"Did you guys really go to an extremely dangerous are!?"

"How big was the Grimm you guys faced there!?"

"What kind of abilities did it have!?"

After a moment of having questions thrown at them, Elaine decided to finally take a step forward. She held up her hands and motioned for everyone around them to calm down, which they did. Once the noise had died down enough, the third-year leader began to speak.

"Okay, I'm aware that you all must have heard about the assignment that we were on," Elaine began. "It is true that the place we went to was an area that was actually restricted due to it's danger. It is also true that we faced a Grimm there that had not been met before in any other place, as far as we know. And our victory over said Grimm is true as well. However, there is one thing that my teammates and I believe needs to be told more than anything else regarding what happened there."

The crowd went almost completely silent with only a couple of people whispering to each other. They were all wondering about just what the leader of team LION wanted to say.

"While we might have won against the Grimm you've heard about, it was no easy task. The creature was old and smart, making it a very dangerous opponent. At one point, we were all on our last legs, as we had been exhausted from the long and tough battle, with our enemy still full of strength and energy," Elaine began to tell her tale. "Eventually, the Grimm managed to beat us down, leaving us at it's mercy. My whole team was about to become it's next meal."

Everyone in the crowd was now listening intently to what the redhead was telling them, not wanting to miss a single detail. The WBY were also listening to the story with wide eyes, thinking about just what Ruby must have been going through.

"However, thanks to one brave Huntress in our group, we were all saved from certain death!" Elaine declared proudly with a big smile on her face, before she and Isabella took hold of Ruby and lifted her up in the air. "This here is the one who saved us! The brave Huntress who risked her life and body to save us all! Our own hero, RUBY ROSE!"

Ruby herself was awestruck by what she was experiencing. She had not expected the older team leader to tell about their mission in such a way, let alone call her a hero of all things. To the scythe-wielder's further shock, the crowd around had begun cheering and chanting her name, like she was actually a hero of some kind.

For as long as she could remember, Ruby had dreamed of becoming a hero, like the ones she read about in books. Was this what it was like?

The WBY stood in stunned silence, as they saw just how much all the third and fourth year students were praising Ruby. They knew that their team leader was skilled and that the older students seemed to hold her in high regard, but this was completely unbelievable to them.

Even Weiss had to admit that she herself had never had anything like this directed at herself. While she did do her occasional singing performances to many nobles and other such influential people of Atlas, the heiress always felt that the praise she received was not out of admiration, but due to her family. Those who praised her greatly were always looking towards to benefiting through her, but what her partner was currently receiving was completely different. If Weiss were to describe it with a word, it would be genuine.

Yang finally decided to go and confront their team leader, as she had enough of simply standing in the crowd and staring at Ruby. With a bit of effort, the blonde pushed through the last few people in her way and finally managed to make it to Ruby and team LION, with Weiss and Blake quickly following behind her.

With the appearance of the WBY in the middle of the crowd, the cheering seemed to die down, as everyone was now staring at the new arrivals. The members of team LION put Ruby down upon seeing the young redhead's teammates appear, and the scythe-wielder herself was staring at the three older girls with slightly widened eyes.

"Yang? Weiss? Blake?" Ruby called out to her teammates in confusion. "What brought you guys here all of a sudden?"

"Ruby, what-" Yang began to say as she took a step towards the younger girl, only for the members of team LION to get in the way.

The third-year students formed a sort of a protective barricade around Ruby, as if to shield her from her teammates. The WBY were taken aback by not only this sudden obstruction, but by the looks on team LION's faces. Every member of the team was glaring at the three older members of team RWBY, like they were their sworn enemies. Even the normally shy and scared Nilo took a stance to shield Ruby and to glare at the WBY.

The reason for team LION acting like this was because of what Ruby had told them about her teammates not too long ago. Once they had learned just how badly their friend had been treated by her own teammates, the third-years had been become quite hateful towards the WBY. Because of this, they had all decided to do their best in order to protect their new friend from her teammates no matter what.

Ruby realized what was going on between her friends and her teammates, and decided to step up in order to prevent a fight from breaking out. It wouldn't help anyone, if third-years got into a fight with some first-years.

"Guys, it's okay. I'll be fine," the scythe-wielder said calmly to the members of team LION while walking past them towards her own teammates. "I'm their team leader, so I was going to have to go meet up with them eventually. Better get to it than try to pointlessly avoid it, okay?"

"Are you sure, Ruby?" Elaine asked, not feeling alright with the idea of leaving the younger girl with her teammates. "At least one of us could go with you, if you-"

"There's no need for that. Trust me on this," Ruby answered before the third-year leader managed to finish her suggestion. "Besides, you should know that I'll be able to handle this."

"...Alright, if you say so, Ruby," the older redhead said with a small frown. "But if anything happens, I want you to call one of us with your Scroll or come to our dorm, okay?"

The scythe-wielder gave a nod and went with her teammates, leaving behind a crowd of disappointed third and fourth-years, who had wanted to talk with the famous prodigy.

"You sure this is a good idea, Ellie?" Isabella asked while watching Ruby walk away with the WBY. "I mean, you know how bad her teammates are, right? Should we really be doing this?"

"Believe me, I am not okay with this, but you heard what she said. Not only did she say that she'll be fine, but she's right about having to face her team eventually," Elaine answered. "No matter how much we dislike it, Ruby is still the team leader of team RWBY, so she has to interact with her own teammates."

"I guess you're right... I still don't like the idea of _them_ being around her," the dark-skinned girl said with clear disgust in her voice. "Ruby deserves better."

"You and I both agree on that," the redhead said before she started to walk away from her team. "I need to go see Professor Oobleck. There's something I need to discuss with him. I'll see you guys back at the dorm."

Isabella stared after Elaine in confusion, wondering what she meant by needing to see their teacher. If it was about their assignment, Oobleck would surely let them rest before making their report. Not to mention, if it was about something concerning their whole team, why would only Elaine go talk to the green-haired teacher?

A sudden tap on her shoulder brought Isabella out of her thoughts. She turned around and saw Oliver staring down at her.

"As strange as Ellie's behavior might be, could you let it be for now? I think we're going to need your help over here," the tall boy said with a hint of irritation in his voice while pointing at the crowd of third and fourth-year students still gathered around them, waiting to hear about their mission.

* * *

Back with team RWBY, the four girls were walking towards their dorm in silence. The WBY had a ton of questions they wanted to ask from their young leader, but were just unable to get the words out. Something felt different about Ruby, like she wasn't the same person they used to know. There was a strange aura surrounding the younger girl, which made her feel like a completely new being altogether.

As they were getting closer to the dorm, Ruby stumbled on her feet, almost falling to the floor. The three older girls immediately rushed to the redhead's side, hoping to help her in any way they could. However, once Yang touched Ruby, the scythe-wielder let out a pained wince. The blonde still held onto Ruby, but did her best to be as gentle as possible, not wanting to hurt her anymore.

"Thanks, Yang," Ruby said with a small smile, as the brawler helped her stand up. "I'll be okay, so you don't need to keep holding me."

"You're NOT okay, Ruby!" Yang argued with worry in her voice. "I have never seen you almost fall down like this while simply walking! What happened to you on that assignment!? You're not badly hurt, are you!?"

"It's nothing to worry about, okay? My body's just a bit worn out from exhaustion, that's all," the redhead replied as she continued to walk. "I was forced to push my Semblance past my body's limits, which backfired on me a bit. I should be okay with a bit of rest."

"Ruby, when you push your body so far that THIS happens, it means that you almost died from exhaustion!" Blake argued in a worried tone. "What in the world could have happened that would push you that far!?"

"Didn't you hear? We faced off against a really strong Grimm that almost killed us," Ruby answered with a frustrated sigh. She was honestly still tired from the whole mission and just wanted to rest, but her teammates didn't seem like they would allow it. "I had no choice but to do what I did in order to save everyone. Seeing as how we all were able to get back alive, I'd say that I did the right thing."

"Now, don't you take that tone with us, Ruby! Do you understand how worried we have been over you!? Not only were you sent on a mission that was way above your level of skill, but you come back as a complete wreck!" Weiss scolded her partner, not realizing that she only angered the young redhead. "To make matters worse, those third-years should have been able to protect you, yet they-"

"ENOUGH!" Ruby suddenly yelled, causing the WBY to freeze from shock. The scythe-wielder took a deep breath before continuing, "I will not have any of you badmouth a single member of team LION. They could have just abandoned me and saved themselves, yet they risked their lives to come and save me. Not to mention, it's thanks to them carrying me once I was unconscious that I came back alive at all. If any of you so much as say one single bad thing about them, I will personally make you regret it. Understood?"

The WBY could only nod in response, as they were honestly afraid of upsetting Ruby any further. The four girls made the rest of their way to their dorm in complete silence, as no one really felt like speaking up.

Once they were in their dorm, Ruby surprised the three older girls by suddenly starting to undress. Weiss' face turned completely red and she turned away from her partner. Bake also looked the other way, but kept glancing at the direction of her team leader.

Yang, not liking the idea of Ruby essentially stripping in front of their team, moved in to stop the younger girl. However, the blonde stopped in her tracks when Ruby removed her shirt. While the redhead still had a T-shirt on, Yang could see just how much Ruby had changed.

The muscles in the scythe-wielder's arms had developed quite a bit as a result of her increased training, to the point that even Yang was almost left second when it came to muscular strength. But the results of Ruby's training weren't the only things showing on her body, but also the wounds and bruises she had sustained from pushing her body too far. Scars and old bruises could be seen all over her arms that were a proof of the young team leader's hard work.

The WBY could only stare at Ruby with wide eyes over what they saw. Their team leader had always seemed like such an innocent girl that they could have never imagined such marks to be on her body.

There was even a large, fresh bruise on Ruby's back that almost reached the back of her neck. The injury was only barely visible, as most of it was covered by the redhead's shirt.

Yang instinctively reached her hand out to touch the large bruise, only for Ruby to wince from pain and fall to her knees. The blonde immediately stepped back from shock, having not expected the injury to still hurt so much.

"Could you please not touch that?" Ruby asked in a pained voice. "I got smashed against a wall by a Grimm and I haven't fully recovered from it."

"I'm sorry, Ruby. But... are you sure you're okay?" Yang asked, worried over the scythe-wielder's condition. "I have never seen anyone beaten this badly. Don't you think you should go to the infirmary?"

"There's no need for that, Yang. My Aura managed to save me from most of the damage, so I'm not in too bad shape. I still have some painful injuries and my Aura is going to take some time to recover, but overall it's not that bad," Ruby explained as she got up. By this point, she was wearing only her T-shirt and underwear, as she climbed into her bed. "Elaine and Oliver told me that I would be okay, as long as I take it easy for some time. I just need to rest a bit for my Aura to come back fully and it will take care of the rest."

"That might be so, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm still worried," the brawler said. "Not only did you go on a very dangerous mission without any of us, but then you come back all beaten up and exhausted. You have to understand that we can't help but worry about you."

"Thanks for the concern, but like I said, I'll be fine. I just need my rest," the scythe-wielder said as she laid down on her bed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm kind of tired and in the need of some sleep. That mission drained more out of me than I thought."

Yang was about to say something, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked behind her and saw Blake lightly shake her head, telling the blonde to let things be for now. The WBY decided to let their team leader rest and started to leave, but Yang still had one more thing to ask.

"Before we go, I'd like to ask one more thing, Ruby," the brawler said, getting the redhead's attention. "This whole thing with team LION... Do you know what's the goal behind it?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I kind of heard this rumor that you might get placed on a third-year team or something like that," Yang explained nervously. Just talking about the idea of Ruby leaving their team was difficult for her. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

For a short moment, Ruby simply stared at Yang with wide eyes, before bursting out into laughter. The WBY were surprised by this reaction from their team leader and waited for an explanation.

"Yang, you can't be serious!" Ruby said while still laughing. "There's no way that rumor is true!"

"W-Wait... What?" was all Yang managed to say, having not expected the redhead's response at all.

"Did you really believe that a student could skip years like that here?" Ruby continued while still chuckling a bit. "I might have managed to get here two years early, but there's no way that Ozpin would allow me to skip more years. The level of work that is expected from third-years is far more demanding and dangerous than ours, so I doubt the professors would even consider placing me in a third-year team for good. That's not even mentioning the trouble of finding me a suitable team, since they are most likely all full."

"But why did they have you go on a third-year assignment then?" the brawler asked. "It wasn't even on the level that you were supposed to be on, but an actual third-year level assignment. Why would they place you in such a dangerous situation, if nothing was going to happen from it?"

"First of all, I had one of the best third-year teams with me, so the whole thing probably wasn't meant to be all that dangerous anyways. While we did face a really threatening Grimm on that mission, it was mostly due to us accidentally wandering close to it. We wouldn't have normally even seen it, had we been following our instructions properly," the scythe-wielder explained. "Second, you do know that not every reward is something I get to enjoy immediately? I'm willing to be that all this gets me is a glowing recommendation from our school, when I'm looking for Huntress work after graduation. That's all there is to it."

Yang was left completely silent for a moment, as her mind processed what she had just heard. For the last couple of days, the blonde had been a nervous wreck, not just from Ruby being away on her mission, but also from the possibility of the young team leader leaving team RWBY entirely. To hear that Ruby wouldn't be leaving at all made Yang feel like a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"So... You won't be leaving our team?" the brawler asked nervously, hoping to confirm what she had just learned. "You will still be part of team RWBY?"

"Pretty much," Ruby answered. "Where did you even get the idea that I would be put among the third-years anyway?"

"Oh! It was just some weird rumor I heard and nothing more!" Yang quickly said, before she went to the door and left. "See you later!"

As the door closed behind the WBY, Ruby stared after them for a moment, before laying back down.

"Good to see she's still as weird as always," the scythe-wielder muttered and rolled her eyes. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep afterwards.

While Ruby was resting in team RWBY's dorm, the three older girls of the team were walking down the hallway, thinking about their team leader. Weiss and Blake were both wondering about how much the younger girl had changed, as she was completely different from the way they thought about her.

However, Yang wasn't bothered by the changes in Ruby at all. Even though she had been surprised by the changes in the redhead, her mind was too occupied with the fact that Ruby wasn't going to leave their team after all. A rather big smile had made it's way to the brawler's face, as one of her biggest fears had just been taken care of.

The way Yang saw it, Ruby was going to still be part of team RWBY and that things would turn for the better.

* * *

During team RWBY's reunion, Elaine from team LION had gone to Oobleck's office to talk about something rather important. There was a question the third-year team leader needed to have answered.

"So, what was it that you needed to talk to me about, Ms. Lambert?" Oobleck asked as he took a sip from his cup of coffee. "Did something happen during your assignment that needs to be addressed right away?"

"Oh, nothing like that, Professor. Although we did encounter something we weren't prepared for, the way I see it, everything went fine," Elaine quickly replied. "However, there is something that I need to ask you about and it's connected to our assignment."

"Really now? And what might that be?" the green-haired man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's about Ruby and why she's doing this," the student began to explain. "No matter how you look at this whole thing, it's very strange. While it's true that the older students take younger ones under their wings in order to provide experience for both of them, this isn't the way it's normally done. Not only did Ruby go along with us without any of her own teammates, but the level of work she had placed upon her should have been considered too dangerous."

"That's quite observant of you, Ms. Lambert," Oobleck said with a small smirk on his face. "I suppose that you have come to some sort of a conclusion from all of this, correct?"

"You're not simply testing her abilities in order to give her a better reputation or anything like that. You're actually thinking of having her skip grades again," Elaine said with small grin. "Her skills are far above those of your regular first-year or even second-year students. Having her stay on the grade she's currently in would be just a waste of her time, as she can already take on our level of work. Am I at least somewhat correct with my assumption?"

"I have to say that you've really impressed me. To be able to see through our intentions like that is quite remarkable," the history professor said and finished his cup of coffee. "You are indeed correct. Ms. Rose's skills have risen far above any of our expectations, so we decided to see just how good she truly is. Not only was she able to defeat Ms. Nikos of all people in a match, but she also managed to raise the scores of her own teammates in their next test as well. Once she had shown us her level of skill on a first-year standard, we decided to see how well she would do with much more demanding work."

"And what do you think of her skills so far?" the redheaded girl asked with a small smirk, already knowing the answer. "Personally, I'd say that she has passed with flying colors, but I think it's necessary to hear it from an actual teacher."

"While I cannot speak for the other teachers completely, I'm pretty much certain that Ms. Rose has passed her test," Oobleck answered. "I personally see no reason as to why she can't be moved up to the third-years, and I'm willing to be that my colleagues will feel the same way about this. This is going to take some time and possibly a bit more testing, but if Ms. Rose keeps up the good work, she should become a third-year student very soon."

"That's good to hear. I believe Ruby deserves it as well," Elaine said before turning around and heading to the door of the office. When she was about to walk out, she stopped to ask one more question. "By the way, in case she becomes a third-year, what team will she join? I'm pretty sure all teams are full with four members at the moment."

"Well, nothing has really been decided on that front yet, but I'm sure she'll be more than welcome to join one of the existing teams," the green-haired man replied. "We can make an exception when it comes to the size of a team, so having a fifth member on one of the teams isn't that big of a problem. As for which team it's going to be, I'd have to say that your team seems to be the best pick for that. Not only have you shown that your members work very well with Ms. Rose, but you have also shown to be very accepting of special cases, like with Mr. Temor. It's the main reason your team was chosen for this to begin with."

A rather big smile made its way to the third-year team leader's face upon hearing this.

"I'm glad to hear that."

* * *

**Author's notes: Sorry for taking so long on this chapter. I've been a bit busy lately and I have also been having trouble with getting into writing lately. I'll try to do my best to get to work on the next chapter, but it is going to take some time. I'll be taking a break from this story for a while in order to think of how I'm going to continue. While I have an idea for the next chapter, I want to think it thoroughly and also think of where to go from that point.**

**There are also a couple of things I feel need to be discussed here. A guest on this site was a bit "passionate" about my decision not to go with Ruby/Yang/Elaine as the pairing, so I feel this and my decision for the Yang/Ruby pairing remaining should be explained here.**

**First of all, the reason I suggested adding Elaine was mostly out of curiosity, as I had seen some of my readers like her quite a bit. Because of this, I wanted to see how much they would like the idea of adding her to the pairing. Had the support been greater, I could have gone with it, but since the reaction I got was a bit more mixed, I decided not to do it. This was helped by the fact that some of the people against it gave actual reasons as to why I shouldn't do it, along with my own problems with adding an OC in the pairing.**

**So once again, I'm sorry if I left some of you disappointed, but I felt that this was the better choice. That's why I didn't add Elaine in the pairing.**

**As for my choice of making this Yang/Ruby, I do know that most of my stories have that pairing and that they are related in the canon. I also know that despite me making them non-related in this story, some of you can't see them that way, which is something I can't help with. However, I came to this site to make the stories I wanted to make and I refuse to change things in such a way that it's no longer the story I wanted to make.**

**I also know that the relationship between Yang and Ruby is currently bad in this story and realistically would probably not lead to romance. However, the thing is that I want there to be a challenge for Yang. I kind of dislike how a lot of stories simply have the characters of a pairing like each other, but the drama comes from neither one having the courage to tell the other about their feelings. I feel that there should be an actual challenge and a struggle. Yang's whole thing is to face terrible odds due to her own mistakes in order to redeem herself and achieve her goal.**

**Anyways, that's all I'll say for now, as I think this is getting too long. Thank you all for checking out my story and I hope you continue to do so.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	22. Reflecting

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 22: Reflecting**

It had been two days since Ruby had returned from her assignment with team LION and the redheaded girl had not been attending classes. This wasn't because she was skipping or anything like that, but because the teachers had actually decided to give her time to recover from the injuries and fatigue she had suffered. For most of that time, Ruby had been staying in her team's dorm resting, only going out to visit the library a couple of times.

The scythe-wielder had also been keeping up with her studies, not wanting to get left behind by the other students. The only things she wasn't allowed to do were physical activities, as those could lead to further damage to her body.

During this time, the WBY had awkwardly tried to rekindle their relationship to the younger girl, but had not really made much progress. Things were still awkward between the three older girls and their team leader. This was especially bad with Yang, who just couldn't seem to be able to speak up when faced with Ruby.

There was also another thing that had been bothering the blonde girl, the situation with team LION. She understood that Ruby held the older team in high regard, but Yang just couldn't bring herself to like them. This was because she felt like they were a threat that was trying to take away Ruby from her. This was obviously a rather stupid fear, but the brawler couldn't help.

However, it was clear that Ruby and team LION were good friends with each other, so there was no helping it. If Yang wanted to get anywhere with bettering her relationship with the young scythe-wielder, she would have to get along with the third-year team.

With her mind made up, the blonde girl made her way to where the third-year students were located, hoping to find out where team LION could be found.

* * *

Meanwhile in Beacon's gym, the members of team LION were in the middle of physical exercises. Since the third-years hadn't overburdened their bodies the way Ruby had, they could take part in training and other such things.

Right now, the four students were in the middle of their workout session, where they were all pushing their bodies further than normal. The addition of Ruby in their team and the way she had pushed herself beyond her own body's limits had motivated all of team LION to push themselves in their exercises. Not only had they been inspired by the younger girl's dedication to her own training, but they also hoped to get themselves strong enough that she wouldn't have to push herself over like that again.

Even the meek and shy Nilo was doing his best. The boy had been born with a small and weak body, so he never really took part in physical exercises like this, choosing to rely on his Semblance, weaponry and intelligence instead. However, now even he was doing bench presses, even if he didn't have any actual weights added to the pole.

The shy boy had Oliver and Isabella watching over him in case something happened. The dark-skinned girl was cheering on her young teammate, while the tall boy was watching with an amused look on his face.

"You can do it, Nilo!" Isabella said cheerfully, as the young boy pushed the pole up with shaky arms. "That was your eighth one already! Only a bit more and you'll reach ten!"

"I must say that I'm quite surprised by this sudden development of yours, Nilo. Normally you would only be doing much lighter exercises, yet here you are bodybuilding," Oliver said while casually lifting a weight with one hand and holding a book in the other. Unlike his younger teammate, his weight had been maxed out with the weights on the pole, yet he was lifting it easily. "Mind if I ask what brought the sudden change?"

"I-It was b-because of R-Ruby," Nilo answered in a shaky voice with a completely red face drenched in sweat. "T-The way she pushes herself is i-inspiring in my e-eyes. I-I want to at least do t-this much in order to be a p-proper teammate for her. N-Not to mention, I-I never want to have someone g-go through anything l-like what she w-went through on our last m-mission."

While the three members of LION were having their moment between each other, their team leader watched them with a small smile on her face. Elaine couldn't help but be happy over her team getting the opportunity to work with Ruby. Not only had she proven to be a great friend and teammate, but the redhead had also had a surprisingly positive on her whole team as a whole. The members of team LION had been close before, but it seemed like ever since they met Ruby, they had grown even closer. Not only that, but all of them were now more motivated than ever in their work to become Huntsmen and Huntresses.

To make it simple, Elaine considered that her team had been blessed through Ruby.

The best part of the whole thing for the third-year team leader was something that none of her teammates knew yet. It was that there was a good chance that Ruby would be joining their team permanently. Elaine hadn't told her teammates about this yet because she wanted to make absolutely sure that it would happen, before telling them. She still couldn't help but grin widely when thinking about this, though.

The redheaded third-year was broken out of her pleasant thoughts by the sound of someone entering the gym. Out of reflex, she turned to look who it was and immediately frowned. It was one of Ruby's teammates, Yang Xiao Long.

When it came to the younger redhead's current teammates, the one she hated the most had to be the blonde girl. While she disliked all three of them, Yang was one that she considered to be the most despicable. This was due to the brawler having known Ruby her whole life, which was something Elaine wished she could have experienced herself. The fact that Yang had known such a wonderful person for so long and still had treated her so badly really made the third-year's blood boil. Only through unimaginable willpower was she able to hold herself back from jumping at the blonde girl and beating her senseless.

Before Elaine could wonder what Yang was doing there, the brawler seemed to notice her and started to walk towards her. The redheaded team leader tensed up, wondering just what the first-year was trying to do.

"Hi, I kind of wanted to talk with you. Is that okay?" Yang asked to which the older girl nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about Ruby."

"What about her?" Elaine asked and narrowed her eyes.

"First, I would like to thank you and your team for keeping her safe during your assignment," the blonde girl started. "I heard that you kept her safe and even saved her life. For that I can't thank you enough."

"You're welcome, but there's no need for thanks," the redhead replied. "Not only should it be natural for comrades and friends to help each other out, she saved our lives and has been a great help altogether. I honestly don't know if we'll ever be able to repay her."

"That's good to hear. However, I would also like to apologize for something," Yang continued, earning herself a raised eyebrow from the third-year girl. "You see, when we heard that Ruby had been injured in your assignment, Weiss, Blake and I kind of put the blame on your team. Ruby quickly reprimanded us for that, but I still feel that it was necessary to apologize in person."

"Again, there's no need for that. Me and my team have gone through quite a bit already, so being badmouthed by some first-years isn't such a big deal," Elaine said. "But your sincerity and apology are still appreciated. Was there anything else you needed to talk about with me?"

"Actually, there is. It's pretty much the main reason I came to talk with you," the brawler answered. "I kind of need your help with Ruby."

"…What?"

"Look, it's obvious that things have not been good between Rubes and I. The same goes for Weiss and Blake as well. But you and your team have gotten really close to her somehow. Whenever I see you guys with Ruby, it reminds me of how things used to be in our team and I… I really miss that. That's why I came here to ask for your help. Maybe you could give me an idea on how to get this whole mess fixed? We could even make some sort of a plan that would include both of our teams even."

Yang waited a moment is silence for Elaine's answer, but didn't get anything other than the older girl staring at her with wide eyes. This went on for a few seconds, before the third-year spoke up.

"If you're trying to piss me off, you're doing a real good job," Elaine with an angry look on her face.

"W-What?" Yang asked, completely confused by the older girl's response.

"Do you have ANY idea just how angry you've made me!?" the third-year raged as she stood up. Her voice had caught the attention of everyone else in the gym, causing them to look at her and the brawler. "The fact that you're trying to get ME to fix your own goddamn mess is bad enough, but the fact that you and your other two idiot teammates can't seem to realize just how freaking blessed you truly are has to be the worst!"

"Woah woah! What are you talking about!?" Yang asked in a slight panic, having not expected such an extreme reaction. "What do you mean by blessed!?"

"You still don't realize it? Even now after all you've been through!?" Elaine asked in return with her anger slowly rising. "Have you ever wondered why is it that Ruby is avoiding you all!? Why she's trying her best to keep her distance!? Of course you haven't, since in your mind, you haven't done anything wrong! Isn't that right!?"

"Hang on, do you know why Ruby has been avoiding us!? Please tell me!" the blonde girl practically begged, wanting to know what was going on with the scythe-wielder. "I have been trying to figure out what's wrong, but I haven't been able to figure it out all! If you know something, you have to tell me! Please!"

"First, I don't have to tell you anything. Besides, I promised Ruby not to talk about this and that means a lot to me. I am not someone that would break a promise that was made with a friend," the third-year team leader replied, turning her back on the first-year student. "Even if I hadn't made such a promise, I still wouldn't tell you or your other two teammates. When you become a team, you're not just a group of people working on the same job, you're supposed to become a family. If any of you were that close to Ruby, you would know what's wrong."

"But we are a family!" Yang tried to argue desperately. "We have opened up to each other about ourselves in things that we don't just tell everybody! Even with that we have no idea what is wrong with Ruby!"

"Why do you assume that something is wrong with Ruby? Have you ever even considered that YOU are the one with the problem?" Elaine asked while giving the brawler the most hateful look she could. "This, Yang Xiao Long, is EXACTLY the reason I absolutely despise you."

"…What?"

"You heard me. I find you to be a horrible person," the redhead answered. "For some reason, you think that the Ruby is the one with the problem, never even slightly considering the possibility that the problem could actually be with you. And you want to know what the worst part is? This shouldn't be the case with you at all. You've known Ruby all of her life, so you should be able to figure this out by yourself, yet you have to ask for help from people that haven't even known Ruby for a whole year! To make this even worse somehow, I'm actually jealous of you, Weiss and Blake! You were all blessed with an incredible person as your team leader, but you don't seem to know just how good you truly have it!"

Elaine's rant had left Yang completely speechless. A lot of it did make sense. While the blonde girl knew that she had made quite a few mistakes in her attempt at getting close to Ruby again, she had never considered that she herself had caused there to be distance between herself and the young scythe-wielder in the first place. Yang also couldn't help but agree with the third-year's other points, like the fact that they were lucky to have Ruby as their teammate and that she herself should be able to figure out what was wrong, considering how long she had known Ruby.

"So… what you're saying is that I'm on my own then?" the brawler asked.

"If I simply fixed your mess without you having to do anything, it would be meaningless," Elaine answered. "Besides, if you truly care about Ruby, you would be doing everything you can to get close to her once again."

"…Okay. Thanks," Yang said in a low tone before leaving the gym.

The redhead had been a bit surprised by the younger girl thanking her. She had honestly expected Yang to get angry at her and possibly even try to attack her. In all honesty, Elaine had even hoped for that. After she had found out just how badly Ruby had been treated by her teammates, the third-year student had wanted to unleash her fury on the sniper's teammates. Unfortunately, since Ruby herself had told her not to do that, Elaine had been unable to do so. Having Yang attack her would have given her the perfect excuse to finally get revenge.

Taking a deep breath, the third-year team leader did her best to calm herself. Staying upset wasn't going to help anyone. Besides, she needed to focus on the positives. Oobleck had pretty much guaranteed her that Ruby would soon be able to join one of the third-year teams, which would most likely be her team LION. That was something to be happy about.

"Ellie, what did blondie want with you?" Isabella asked. She and the other members of LION had decided to go and see what had happened between their leader and Yang. "She didn't come here to pick a fight with us, did she?"

"No, she didn't, but she did manage to anger me quite a bit," Elaine answered.

"Glad to hear that's all it was. We were ready to throw down with her, even if she is just a single first-year," the dark-skinned girl said. "Even Nilo was pumped up and ready to go."

"Really now?" the redhead asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk. "Knowing what he did to that Grimm we faced in our assignment, I'm not really surprised."

"Joking aside, what was her business with you?" Oliver asked. "I doubt she came over here just to say hello."

Elaine was about to answer, but then she thought about something. A smile made its way to her face, as she decided what to tell her teammates first.

"Guys, there's something you need to know. It's about the meeting I had with Oobleck soon after we returned from our assignment."

* * *

Meanwhile, Yang was heading towards her team's dorm while in deep thought. She was thinking about all the things Elaine had just told her and trying to come up with what to do regarding Ruby. As much as she hated to admit it, the third-year student had been correct when she said that the brawler had automatically assumed that the problem had something to do with Ruby. She had completely excluded herself, Weiss and Blake from the whole thing. It was entirely possible that one of them, or even all three of them, had been the cause of Ruby distancing herself from them.

The problem was trying to figure out what it was.

By the time Yang had made her way back to her team's dorm, she still hadn't been able to come up with an answer to her problem. The blonde girl could only let out a sad sigh, as she opened the door and entered the dorm.

Once inside, Yang immediately saw Ruby laying down on her bed, studying. This was pretty much a common sight that the brawler, along with their other teammates, had gotten used to. They couldn't even remember a time when they had seen the young redhead doing anything other than either studying or training. She might have been forced to stop training her body due to her injuries, but she was still determined to continue her studies, even if she was supposed to be resting.

Ruby was so concentrated on her studies that she hadn't even noticed Yang enter. The blonde girl couldn't help but wonder if the scythe-wielder had even taken a break from her studies to eat, as all she seemed to be doing these days was work.

However, this gave Yang an idea.

'_I can tell just by looking that Rubes is very tired. She must have been pushing herself way past her limits in her studies,'_ the brawler thought to herself. _'Let's see if I can do something to help her relax a bit.'_

Yang walked up to the younger girl and gently tapped her on her shoulder. Ruby immediately turned her attention to the older.

"Oh, hi, Yang. I didn't notice you coming in," the redhead greeted. "Did you need something?"

"No, but I think you might need something," Yang replied. "Rubes, I can tell that you're tired. I can even see bags under your eyes. I think you've worked enough and need to take a moment to rest a bit."

"I'm fine, Yang. I don't need to rest right now," Ruby said. "Besides, I have to keep working or else I'll get left behind by everybody else. Thanks to not being able to go to classes, I haven't been able to-"

The scythe-wielder was cut off by the blonde girl suddenly climbing up to her bed. Ruby looked at Yang, who was grinning.

"Come on, Rubes, you must have been at this for hours already!" the brawler said. "How about this? I'll try to help you relax, but if it doesn't work, you get to return back to your studies. Deal?"

Ruby was about to protest, but thought about it. If she simply denied Yang's request, she was certain that she would only end up getting asked again and again until she gave in. On the other hand, if she goes along with this, she might get rid of the blonde girl in one go.

"Fine, I'll accept your deal," Ruby said with a sigh. "But if this doesn't work, I want to be left alone, okay?"

"Deal!" Yang said cheerfully with a big grin on her face. "You're not going to regret this, Rubes!"

"We'll see about that…" the redhead mumbled and rolled her eyes. "What are you even going to do to help me relax?"

"I'm going to give you one of a kind massage, the Xiao Long Special!" the brawler proclaimed happily. "Now, remove your shirt, lay down on your stomach with your arms at your sides and let me work my magic on you!"

Ruby did as she was told and was soon on her bed with her back completely bare for the older girl. Wasting no time, Yang went to work and began to give her massage to the younger girl.

As much as Ruby would have hated to admit it, the blonde girl's technique was really working. She hadn't been aware of just how tense she had truly been and the hands working her back made her feel really good. A pleased moan even escaped Ruby's lips over how good she was feeling.

'_Man, she really needed this! Just by touching her like this I can tell how much work she has been putting in. Does this girl ever rest?'_ Yang thought to herself as she continued the massage. She soon noticed that Ruby had actually fallen asleep during the whole session. _'She's out like a light. I'm not too surprised, though. With the way she looked, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner.'_

With Ruby asleep, the blonde girl continued giving her the massage. As she did so, she began to notice other things about the redhead. Mainly the results her training were showing on her body.

'_Wow, Rubes has really been working out, hasn't she?' _Yang thought as she admired the sleeping girl's muscles. _'Even though they're not as big and developed as mine, I'm sure that she is soon going to be rivaling me with the way she's going.'_

The muscles weren't the only thing that the brawler took notice of. There were also quite a few bruises and scars covering Ruby's body. While some had come from missions the redhead had taken part in, there were also ones that came from her working. Ruby's hands also had all sorts of small scars and other blemishes, most likely resulting from her working on her weapon for long periods of time.

'_To think that this used to be the little girl that would cling to me with tears in her eyes… Honestly, when did you change so much, Ruby?'_ Yang wondered. Her hands had now stopped giving the massage and were now moving around the younger girl's body, gently feeling the muscles, scars and bruises underneath them. _'This isn't the body of a little girl that's happily munching cookies while reading fairy tales. This is the body of an experienced Huntress, one who has seen much action and faced many foes. Is this really the Ruby I know?'_

The brawler decided to take a closer look at Ruby's sleeping face. She gently brushed away the stray hairs that were in the way and looked at her. Despite all the changes she had gone through, the young team leader still had an innocent look on her face while sleeping.

'_Guess some things either don't change or take a lot longer to do so. She still looks like the sweet little girl that I know, when she is like this,'_ Yang thought while observing Ruby's face. _'Just why have you changed so much so suddenly? What are you trying to achieve and why? And when you do achieve it, will you still have a need for me?'_

Suddenly, the blonde girl began to lean closer towards the sleeping girl's face. She did this slowly and carefully in order to not wake up the younger girl. Yang got close enough to feel Ruby's calm breath on her skin, their lips mere inches away from each other.

Realizing just how close she had gotten, the brawler quickly pulled back and fell off the bed. The noise and sudden movement woke up Ruby, who sat up on her bed while rubbing her eyes.

"Yang? What happened?" the scythe-wielder asked in a sleepy tone. "Why did you suddenly fall off?"

"Uhhh… Sorry, Ruby, but I have to go!" Yang quickly said before running to the door. "See you later!"

Before Ruby could ask anything, the blonde girl had slammed the door behind her. The redhead was left to stare at the door with a confused look on her face.

"…What was THAT about?"

Meanwhile, Yang was leaning on the wall just outside her team's dorm. Her face was completely red as she thought about what had just happened.

'_WHAT DID I JUST DO!?'_ the brawler screamed inside her head in embarrassment.

* * *

**Author's notes: I'm back to this story again, people! Sorry for making you all wait for so long. I wanted to get Dead by Roselight finished, so that I could better focus on other stuff, like this story. With it finished, I can focus on this story a lot more.**

**Sorry for the wait and thank you all for your patience.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter done as soon as possible. It might take some time, since I've got a lot of other stuff I need to work on as well, but I'll do my best. It is thanks to your support that I want to keep working on this story and to bring it to an end.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	23. Partner Problems

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 23: Partner Problems**

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT RUBY'S GOING TO BECOME PART OF OUR TEAM!" Isabella yelled happily as she and her teammates were walking towards their dorm. Elaine had just told her teammates about the possibility of Ruby becoming a member of their group and the others had been quite delighted. "Seriously, this is like the best thing EVER! We get to have such an awesome extra person in our group! Our team is going to be envied by all others!"

"I share your excitement, Issie, but tone it down, would you? I'm sure my ears have been damaged by your screaming," Elaine said. "Besides, it hasn't yet been decided that Ruby will join our team. There is still the possibility that she goes to some other group."

"Don't you even DARE suggest that! You know as well as I do that Ruby belongs with us and no one else!" the dark-skinned girl said while pointing a finger at her team leader. "Also, how could you not tell us about something like this sooner!? Withholding such information from your teammates is treason!"

"Hey, I wanted to make sure that it was certainly going to happen before telling you, alright!?" the redhead defended herself. "It's only after meeting that blondie from Ruby's team that I decided to tell you all. If Ruby's other two teammates are anything like Yang, she can't leave that team fast enough. Leaving her with those three is only going to stunt her growth as a Huntress."

"I do have to agree that leaving Ruby with those three is not a good idea," Oliver said. "Despite everything she has achieved, those three do not show any respect towards Ruby and even badmouth her behind her back. A team that doesn't respect their leader is bound to fall."

"I-I agree!" Nilo added. "T-Those three do not deserve to have Ruby in their team anymore! T-They have broken the trust between themselves and their leader, w-which is beyond repair at this point!"

Hearing her teammates' support for the idea of Ruby joining their team made Elaine smile. While she already knew that there wouldn't be any objections, it was still great to see just how enthusiastic they all were. After everything Ruby had been through with her team, she deserved to get into a team that truly respected and appreciated her.

"Glad to see you're all supporting this," the team leader said with a smile. "Now we just have to make sure that Ruby gets placed in our team and not some other group."

"Well of course we would support this!" Isabella yelled happily. "I believe this calls for a celebration! The pizzas are on me, people!"

As the members of team LION went on with their premature celebration, they failed to notice a couple of third-year students that had heard their conversation.

* * *

Next day, the members of team RWBY were in the cafeteria, eating breakfast. Ruby had finally been allowed to return to classes and had joined her team at the table.

However, things weren't exactly normal with the four girls, which was something Weiss and Blake had quickly noticed.

"…Blake, do you have any idea what's wrong with those two?" Weiss whispered to the cat faunus while looking at the two girls sitting across from them at the table. "I know things have been weird with them for quite some time now, but I think they might be at their weirdest now."

"Weiss, if I knew what was wrong with them, I would have tried to do something about this already," Blake whispered back to the heiress. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I want to get involved in whatever it is that's going on between those two."

The thing the monochrome duo was referring to was the strange behavior between Yang and Ruby, especially when it came to the blonde girl. Right now, Yang's face was completely red as she kept picking at her food with a fork, which had turned her bacon hamburger into mush. The brawler was also doing her best to look away from Ruby. The redhead was acting mostly normally, except for the fact that she was obviously bothered by the older girl's behavior. She was trying her best to eat her food, while glancing at Yang every now and then.

'_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! This feels so awkward!'_ Yang thought to herself. _'I can't help but keep replaying what happened yesterday in my head over and over again! The way I was touching her and the fact that I almost… almost… I CAN'T EVEN SAY IT! JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?'_

Meanwhile, Ruby was having her own thoughts regarding the blonde girl.

'_What is up with her now? I know that Yang can be weird, but this is just going above and beyond all expectations!'_ the redhead wondered. _'Honestly, it's times like this that I wonder if she was dropped when she was born! Although, that would explain a lot…'_

Not wanting to deal with the awkward atmosphere any longer, Ruby quickly finished her breakfast and left the table. The three older girls were left behind, staring after their leader.

"Okay, this is just too ridiculous," Weiss said with a sigh as she got up from her seat. "Blake, would you mind and try speaking to your partner about what's going on? I'll go after Ruby and see what I can do."

"Didn't I just say that I didn't want to get involved in this?" the raven-haired girl asked with a slight frown.

"Like it or not, we are already involved with this, so it can't be helped," the white-haired girl replied as she was getting ready to leave. "Now how about you try being a good teammate and deal with your partner?"

Blake could only groan as she was left alone with Yang. It seemed like there was no way for her to run away from this problem now. The cat faunus turned to look at her partner, who was still blushing and mashing what used to be a burger.

"I take it that you're not going to simply tell me what's going on?" Blake asked.

"W-W-What are you talking about!?" Yang asked while trying to feign ignorance and even let out an obviously faked laugh. "There's nothing weird going on! Yup! Nothing that needs to be thought of or anything like that! There is absolutely nothing strange that had happened between me and Rubes when we were alone in the dorm yesterday!"

The raven-haired girl let out a deep sigh. She could already feel a headache coming.

* * *

Meanwhile, Weiss was walking through the hallways, trying her best to find Ruby. The younger girl was unfortunately quite fast on her feet even when she was simply walking, which made finding her more difficult for the heiress. Weiss did manage to eventually find her missing partner, but she wasn't alone.

Ruby was currently surrounded by the members of team CRDL, who didn't look like they were there to just have a friendly chat with the redheaded girl.

"We've heard that you've been working with a third-year team lately, Rose," Cardin said while blocking Ruby's path. "What's that all about? Your team got tired of you and hired them to babysit you? Or did you get the idea that you're too good to be with us first-years?"

"It's true that I've been working with a third-year team, but it's not because of the reasons you claimed," Ruby said while glaring at the bully. Normally, she would be able to take on all of them, but with her body in the state it was she wouldn't stand a chance. "Anyways, would you mind and let me-"

The young team leader was roughly shoved to the floor by Cardin, who had an evil smirk on his face, as did his teammates. The brown-haired boy even put his foot down on Ruby's back to prevent her from getting back up.

"Hey, we're not done with you yet, so you're not leaving," Cardin said. "Honestly, I don't see what's so good about you. Not only did you get accepted two years early, but now you're working with third-years? Just what kind of favors have you done to the headmaster and the other staff to pull this off? I think it's about time my team taught you a lesson ourselves."

As team CRDL was getting ready to hurt the defenseless girl, Weiss was watching the whole thing from behind a corner. As much as she wanted to go and help her partner, her options for doing this didn't seem all that good. If she had her equipment with her, she could hold her own against the bullies, but right now she didn't have anything on her. Charging at team CRDL with her bare hands wouldn't do anybody any good in this situation. Nevertheless, she still needed to come up with something to help Ruby before things got bad.

However, it seemed like someone else was going to save the redhead instead of Weiss.

"Hands off the girl!" a female voice shouted at the bullies. All eyes turned to see where the voice had come from and they saw a girl in Beacon uniform standing there, glaring at team CRDL.

"Huh? Who do you think you are, lady?" Cardin asked angrily, not liking that his fun was being interrupted.

"Who do I think I am?" the girl said, before suddenly grabbing the brown-haired boy by the head and smashing his face to the wall. "HOW ABOUT YOUR THIRD-YEAR SENIOR, YOU PUNK!?"

The other three members of CRDL were shocked by this third-year student suddenly taking out their leader and were about to run away, but their escape was blocked by the girls teammates who didn't look happy.

"Having fun bullying those who can't fight back?" one of the third-years asked, before he and the other two knocked out Cardin's teammates with a single punch each.

"Guys, are you ready?" the girl called out to her teammates while picking up the unconscious Cardin by the back of his shirt.

"Yeah!" one of the other third-years answered with each of them holding one of Cardin's teammates.

With each member of the third-year team now holding one of the bullies, they smashed the heads of team CRDL against each other with Cardin and Russel in the middle and Sky and Dove at the sides. While they obviously didn't kill the bullies due to their Aura protecting them, the members of team CRDL would be out cold for a while and would wake up with massive headaches.

"The bully sandwich is ready to be served!" the third-year team said happily in unison while holding up team CRDL before dropping them to the floor.

As this all happened, Ruby had been watching the whole spectacle unfold before her with wide eyes. Weiss was also surprised by what just happened. The two first-year students had no idea who these four new people were at all.

"T-Thank you," Ruby said, still in awe over what she had seen.

"Don't mention it," the girl that had taken down Cardin said with a kind smile while offering a hand to help the redhead get up. "People like them deserve a good beating over the crap they try to pull."

Ruby let out a small laugh as she got up with the unknown girl's help. Once she was up, she took a better look at the team that had helped her. It was clear to the scythe-wielder that these were third-years by their eyes. Not only were these students looking at her with kindness instead of the contempt and jealousy most first and second-years did, one could also see maturity and experience behind their gazes.

"I don't want to sound rude, but who are you guys?" Ruby asked. "I don't think I've ever met any of you before."

"Well, this is our first time meeting, so I'm not surprised by you not knowing us. Even though we have certainly heard plenty about you, you probably have never heard of us," the third-year girl who seemed to be the leader of the group explained. "I'm Dalia Saranov, leader of team DEUS. These are my teammates, Eric, Uzuto and Sarah."

"A pleasure to meet you all," the redhead said with a smile and even gave a small respectful bow to her saviors. "Thank you again for saving me, but I do have to ask one thing. What brought you all here? We usually don't see third or fourth-year students around here, let alone whole teams."

"That would be true, except we have a bit of a special reason to be here," Dalia answered. "You see, we came over here to see you."

"Me?" Ruby asked with surprise in her voice, getting nods from the older students. "I'm not sure I follow… I mean, what business could you all have with me?"

"That's simple! We were wondering if you would like to join our team for assignments and other work!" the older girl answered with a grin. "I mean, you've already been working on our level of stuff, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?"

"I-I'm honored, but this is a bit sudden," the young team leader said, completely taken aback. "Also, I'm not sure if I can do that. Not only am I not sure if I'm going to be working with third-years any longer, but I'm already kind of assigned to be with team LION."

"Oh, I know about that, but it's just unfair, you know?" Dalia said with an exaggerated sigh. "Not only does Elaine have Oliver on her team, who is great at studies as well as combat, but she already has a cute prodigy on her team through Nilo! Does she really need another great talent like you? I think it's only fair that you get placed with another-"

The rest of the third-year girl's words were cut off as a soda can hit her on the head. Dalia immediately turned to look where the attack had come from with fury in her eyes.

"OKAY, WHO HAS GOT THE BALLS!?" the third-year girl yelled angrily, as another team of third-years were making their way towards her. This time, it was a team that Ruby was familiar with, team LION. "…Ellie, I should have known…"

"Mind explaining just what the hell you're trying to pull here, D?" Elaine asked with anger in her voice. "I swear, the moment I let my guard down, vultures like you come flying down immediately."

"Well, I see no harm done in it. After all, even if you're the closest with Ruby here, nothing has been set in stone, right? I think it's only fair that she gets to see what else is available to her," Dalia said while glaring at the other team leader. "Besides, I think it's only a good thing that we came when we did. We did save Ruby from a group of bullies."

"Umm… Excuse me, what is all this-?" Ruby tried to ask, but the third-years were too focused on their argument.

"I appreciate you helping her out, truly, but I have my doubts it came completely from the goodness of your heart," Elaine said. "Also, do you really think Ruby would like to join your team? After all, if I remember correctly, MY team completely destroyed YOUR team in our last sparring match. I see no reason for her to downgrade when it comes to teammates."

"DOWNGRADE!? You've got some nerve saying that to me!" Dalia yelled with her face now red with anger. "Besides, your team is far from perfect! When was the last time you guys beat us in test scores!? Oh, that's right! NEVER!"

"THE TESTS QUESTIONS ARE JUST WAY TOO DIFFICULT! THAT'S WHY!" the redheaded third-year argued. "Besides, our team has the misfortune of being dragged down by Isabella!"

"HEY!" the dark-skinned girl yelled angrily.

Just when it seemed like the two third-year team leaders were going to start fighting, Oliver stepped up to them and lifted both girls up by the backs of their shirts, like he was a parent stopping two little children from fighting. Both girls looked at the tall boy, who had an annoyed look on his face.

"Would you two mind and stop?" Oliver asked angrily. "You're being a bad influence to our juniors."

"SHE STARTED IT!" both Elaine and Dalia yelled while pointing at each other.

"…Are you two six years old or something?"

Thanks to the berserker's interference, things managed to calm down between the two teams. The members of team DEUS left, even if their leader was unhappy about it, leaving team LION with Ruby.

"Sorry about that, Ruby," Oliver apologized to the young redhead. "Those four are kind of our "rivals", even though the rivalry is mainly between Ellie and their leader."

"It's okay, I guess…" Ruby said, still somewhat bewildered over what she had just witnessed. "But what was that all about in the first place? Why did Elaine get into an argument with that Dalia person?"

"Oh right, you don't know yet, do you?" Elaine said, realizing that the younger girl was still in the dark over the things happening around her. "We'll explain it to you as we go to your class, okay? That way we can keep you safe."

"Keep me safe? What is that supposed to mean?" the younger redhead asked, completely confused. "I know I'm still not fully recovered, but I doubt anyone else is going to be attacking me. Team CRDL is pretty much the only group that does stuff like that."

"While we'll be protecting you from other bullies, it is poachers that we are currently on the lookout for!" Isabella exclaimed loudly. "Like those four from team DEUS, we know there are going to be others coming after you!"

"Poachers? Just what is going on!?" Ruby said as her confusion only kept rising.

"Look, we'll explain it on the way," Oliver said with a sigh, feeling sorry for the young team leader. "Right now, I think we should start heading to your class, before you're late."

As Ruby and team LION began to make their way to the scythe-wielder's classroom, they noticed Weiss standing behind a corner. The heiress had been so surprised by all that she had just seen that she had forgotten to stay hidden.

"Weiss? Were you there this whole time?" Ruby asked with wide eyes. "But why didn't you…?"

"Are you freaking kidding me!?" Isabella yelled angrily while glaring at Weiss. "You mean to tell me that this whole time you've been standing there, doing nothing!? WHY THE HELL WOULDN'T YOU HELP YOUR PARTNER WHEN SHE'S BEING ATTACKED BY BULLIES!?"

"I-It's not like that!" the heiress tried to defend herself. "I just didn't know what I should do, that's all!"

"The way I see it, you knew exactly what you wanted to do," Elaine said with anger dripping from her voice. "You probably didn't think that Ruby was worthy enough to get help from "the great Schnee heiress", am I right? Or perhaps you wanted to watch her get beat up, since she has dared to be better than you? Can't have that, now can we?"

"THAT IS NOT-!" Weiss tried to defend herself, but was cut off by her partner.

"Yeah… That's probably what it was," Ruby said coldly, which shocked the white-haired girl. "What else should I expect from her? In her eyes, I'm beneath her family and shouldn't expect to be helped, even if she is my partner. That is just demanding too much of her."

Without even looking at Weiss, the young team leader began to leave with team LION soon following after her. The third-year students gave the heiress one last look of disgust before following their friend. Weiss had been frozen still from the shock she got from hearing Ruby speak so coldly, but managed to break from it upon realizing that she was walking away.

"Ruby, wait! I-!" the white-haired girl called after her partner, but was cut off again.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ruby yelled at Weiss with tears falling from her eyes. "That is the one nice thing you can do to me, yet now you can't even do that!? Haven't you already done enough to me!?"

The heiress could only stand still and watch with wide eyes as the scythe-wielder walked away. Once Ruby was gone, Weiss tried to make sense of everything she had seen. Just what was going on between Ruby and all these third-year teams? And what did Ruby mean by what she had just said to her?

The white-haired girl hoped that things were going better with Yang and Blake.

* * *

While Weiss was contemplating things on her own end, Yang and Blake were in a secluded part of Beacon's backyard. The two girls were in an area that was covered by a good amount of trees and bushes, which gave them privacy from anyone that might walk past them. Even though most people were currently in their classes, Blake felt like it was a good idea to make sure that no one would eavesdrop on their conversation. Yang didn't seem like she was willing to speak in the first place, so this could at least make it a bit easier to pry information from her.

"So, Yang, are you going to tell me what's going on or are you just going to keep pretending?" the cat faunus asked with a hint of frustration in her voice. She really didn't want to go through this. "Let me remind you that we should currently be in class, so I'm doing you a rather big favor here."

"Nothing is wrong! I swear!" the blonde girl quickly replied. Her face was still red and she was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees with her back turned to her partner. "Besides, if we should be in class, we should be in class! We'll get yelled at, if we don't go there!"

Blake let out another frustrated sigh and turned away from her partner for a moment. She took a rubber toy mouse from one of her pockets that she had for moments like this. The toy mouse was a stress toy that when you squeezed it the mouse's eyes would bulge out. The raven-haired girl squeezed the toy a couple of times to calm her nerves, before putting it back in her pocket and turning her attention to Yang again.

"Yang, the reason I decided that we should skip class for this is because I know you won't be able to concentrate on your school work with the way you are right now," Blake explained. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, we need to solve it quickly or it will affect your studies from now on as well. I know this is going to be hard for you to let out, since I've had problems that I didn't want to talk about, but I ask you to trust me. The only way for me to help you is that you tell me what's going on between you and Ruby right now."

"That's easy for you to say! You have no idea just what I've just gone through!" the brawler argued. "I don't think I can EVER tell anyone what has happened!"

"Oh please! It can't be that bad!" the cat faunus said, not believing her partner. "I mean, what is that happened between you and Ruby? Did you guys reenact one of the scenes from my Ninjas of Love books or something?"

"Not… exactly, but kind of close…" Yang answered.

"…What?"

"You see, yesterday I noticed that Ruby was really tired, so I offered to give her a massage," the blonde girl began to explain. "I managed to convince her to let me do it, so I obviously began to massage her back."

"Okay? I don't see how any of this is bad, though," Blake said. "I mean, there is skin contact in a massage, but it isn't necessarily anything dirty. I don't see how this can be compared to my books."

"The massage was just the start," Yang said. "Soon after I had started, Ruby fell asleep. Since she had her back bare, I started to kind of inspect her body a bit closer. I checked out and touched her muscles, scars and bruises. And at the end, I went and almost kissed her while she was sleeping…"

"…Oh. Oh! Ohhhh…" Blake managed to say as she just processed what her partner had told her. Even the cat faunus' face turned red from what she had just heard.

Silence fell between the two girls, who were now both sitting on the ground with their backs against each other. Both girls' faces were red and their eyes were wide. Blake was also absentmindedly squeezing her toy mouse, hoping to calm herself down, but it wasn't working.

'_Okay, let's think about this calmly and rationally. What happened between Yang and Ruby is obviously… weird, to say the least, but is it that bad of a thing? I mean, some of my favorite books have such relationships and they're much more graphic!'_ the raven-haired girl thought to herself. _'…OH, WHO AM I TRYING TO FOOL HERE!? Yang basically admitted that she almost kissed her own sister! And I doubt it was anything completely innocent, like a kiss on the cheek or something of that nature! JUST WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO IN THIS SITUATION!? WHY DID I HAVE TO BE YANG'S PARTNER!?'_

"Judging by your silence, I'm guessing that you understand why I didn't want to talk about this! I'm honestly lucky that Ruby didn't notice what I tried to do!" Yang said. "I mean, we might not be actually related or anything like that, but we still grew up together like sisters, so I doubt this is completely fine!"

"…Hang on, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" Blake yelled.

* * *

**Author's notes: As you all can probably guess by the way this chapter ended that the next chapter will be about the explanation of the circumstances surrounding Yang and Ruby. Basically it will explain how they are not related. While I know that some of you won't be looking towards it, I think it's kind of inevitable that it happens in a story that has non-related Yang/Ruby as its pairing.**

**The scene where team DEUS took down team CRDL is a reference to a scene in Dorohedoro. If you don't know what that scene is, write "dorohedoro bully sandwich" in YouTube and you'll see what it's about. I'd also recommend checking out the series itself. I've read the manga and I found it to be pretty enjoyable.**

**A guest recently asked me about what I thought about volume 7's new characters. While I would be glad to give an opinion on that, I unfortunately haven't watched the whole volume yet. I've only seen only a couple of the episodes. This is mostly due to my own personal problems that I've had with the series for some time now. Let me just make clear that in no way do I have anything against people who watch the show. I have just recently been feeling uncomfortable about some of the things that are going on both with RWBY and Rooster Teeth themselves. I might at some point say more about it on my profile, but not here. The AN section is not for that.**

**Also, in response to Celestialfae's question, I'm currently not planning another Yandere story like the ones I've done. Not only do I not have an idea for one, but I also don't feel like working on another horror story for now after working on Dead by Roselight for so long.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and will check out the next one.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	24. Revelations

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 24: Revelations**

In the secluded part of Beacon's front yard, Blake was staring at Yang with an expression that was a mixture of shock, surprise and anger. What her partner had just told her had been completely unexpected, so the cat faunus' reaction was at least somewhat understandable. Yang, on the other hand, had an expression of surprise, as she hadn't expected Blake to react the way she did.

"I said that despite Ruby and I not being related, we still grew up as- Woah!" the blonde girl began to say, but was cut off by getting her shoulders grabbed by the raven-haired girl, who began to violently shake her.

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU TOLD ME THIS BEFORE!?" Blake yelled. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THIS CHANGES THINGS!? WHY WERE YOU KEEPING THIS A SECRET!?"

"I-It never came up and there was never a reason to tell about it!" Yang answered while getting shaken. "Also, how was it supposed to change anything!? I don't see how that could have happened!"

The cat faunus was about to answer her partner's question, but couldn't think of anything. In all honesty, there really was no legitimate reason as to why Yang should have told any of them that she and Ruby weren't actually related.

"…Never mind," Blake finally said with a deep sigh and let go of the brawler. "Could you just… explain this a bit more?"

"Well, I mean, it's kind of obvious that we are not actually related, you know?" Yang said. "We don't really share any characteristics and we even have different last names. I'm actually more surprised that no one asked whether we really were sisters."

"I just assumed you both took after different parents, which would explain the difference in your looks," the raven-haired girl explained. "Also, didn't you say that you and Ruby have different mothers? That would further explain your different looks, as well as the fact that you guys have different last names."

"That would kind of explain it, except that family members usually have the same family name still," the brawler said. "Not to mention, if Rubes was really related to me, her mom would've needed to get pregnant almost as soon as my mom left my dad. During that time, he was still grieving that he had been left, so I doubt it would have worked out like that at all."

"Okay, so what is the story behind you and Ruby then?" Blake asked, wanting to finally hear the full story. "This is honestly a really big bomb to drop on me, so I want to hear the full explanation."

"I'm afraid I can't really give you the full story, since I'm not sure about the details myself," Yang answered. "From what I've managed to get my dad and Uncle Qrow to tell me, Ruby's real father joined Beacon the same time as they did. He was apparently the leader of another team that was really close to the team my parents, Uncle Qrow and Ruby's mom, Summer, were in. If what my dad has told me is true, Ruby's parents got together soon after they graduated, but something bad happened that separated them soon after Summer got pregnant with Ruby."

"Do you have any idea what actually happened?" the cat faunus asked. "You said that it was something bad. Did either Ruby's mom or dad do something that caused them to leave each other?"

"That's the part that I find the most confusing. From what I can tell, neither one of them was the cause for their break up," the blonde girl said with a confused expression on her face. "I honestly can't believe that Summer of all people could even be capable of doing anything bad, and my dad has never given the idea that Ruby's father was at fault either. Whenever I've managed to get him to speak about the guy, he never had even a hint of anger or resentment in his voice. The way he talked about him was like he was speaking about a very dear friend or even a brother, whom he respects greatly. However, he still avoids naming any members of the team Ruby's dad was in or even their team itself, almost like they're cursed or something."

Blake thought about the story she had just heard. It was still kind of hard to believe that the two sisters she had been in the same team with all this time weren't sisters after all, but if what Yang had told was true, then it had to be the case. It would explain quite a few things.

There were still a lot of questions left unanswered regarding Ruby's father. What was it that drove him and Summer apart from each other? Why wouldn't Yang's father name him or even his team? Why is it that they were such a taboo subject?

"Does your uncle know anything?" Blake asked, hoping for more information. "Since he was in the same team as your dad, he should have known Ruby's dad."

"I've tried asking him, but it hasn't worked," Yang answered. "He is actually even more tight lipped about the whole thing than my dad is. He even once said that he doesn't even want to think about the whole thing. Never explained why, though."

"Hmmm… I can't help but wonder what that is all about," the cat faunus muttered to herself thoughtfully. "Anyways, it still doesn't exactly solve the issue that's between you and Ruby, though. We are going to have to-"

Blake was cut off by her Scroll suddenly ringing. She took it out of her pocket and noticed that Weiss was calling her.

"Hello-"

"_WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TWO!?"_ Weiss yelled angrily, causing the raven-haired girl to wince from pain. _"You two completely missed Professor Peach's class! What are you two still doing!?"_

"Geeze, no need to shout, Weiss!" Blake said. "I'm currently with Yang in the school's front yard. I figured that I needed to talk things out with her or she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the classes at all."

"_Okay, so did you manage to find out what was wrong?"_ the heiress asked. _"Please tell me it's something that we can fix easily. I would like to have some good news for once."_

"I'm afraid it's not exactly a simple issue. It's going to require quite a bit of work," the cat faunus answered, causing Weiss to groan on the other side. "However, I've just learned some rather interesting things about our two teammates. I'll tell you about it later."

* * *

For the remainder of the day, classes went in an uncomfortable manner for team RWBY. While Yang was no longer the nervous wreck she had been in the morning, she still felt really awkward with Ruby. This caused her to try avoid making eye contact with the younger girl and generally stay away from her. Not only that, but Ruby herself was keeping distance from her entire team itself due to what had happened with Weiss. The white-haired girl had explained what had happened to her other two teammates, who luckily accepted her explanation. However, the situation was still obviously very bad.

Right now, the three older girls of team RWBY were in their dorm, talking about the things Blake had just learned. Ruby was currently with team LION, giving the three girl an opportunity to talk things out between themselves. The raven-haired girl had told Weiss about the rather special circumstances regarding Yang and Ruby. Blake had expected Weiss to be interested in the subject, like she herself had been, but to her surprise, the white-haired girl seemed uninterested.

"So what you're telling me is that Ruby isn't actually related to Yang?" Weiss asked to which the cat faunus nodded. "…Why does this matter to us?"

"Huh?" Blake said.

"Why should we be concerned about Ruby and Yang not being related to each other?" the heiress specified. "As far as I can tell, that has nothing to do with either of us and it isn't helping us in any way."

"I… I mean, yeah, it doesn't actually affect us, but isn't it still interesting?" the raven-haired girl tried to argue. "The mystery, the secrecy and everything else. It's almost like one of my books! You can't say that you're not at least a bit interested!"

"Blake, what concerns the families of Yang and Ruby is their business. As outsiders, we don't have any right to start sticking our noses into it," Weiss said with a sigh. "I know from experience that families have their own secrets that they don't want to tell to the whole world. Shouldn't you know about this as well, Ms. Secret Faunus?"

All Blake could do was stay silent. What her teammate had said was completely true. Even if she found the whole thing interesting, it not only didn't have anything to do with them but it also wasn't any of their business. As a person who liked her privacy and to have her secrets, the cat faunus couldn't do anything else but agree with Weiss.

"Sorry…" Blake apologized quietly as she sat down on her bed. "I got too caught up in my own interests that I forgot to be reasonable."

"Well, as long as you recognize your mistake, I suppose it's all okay," Weiss said with a small sigh. "Anyways, did you manage to learn exactly why Yang was behaving the way she did this morning?"

Upon hearing the heiress' question, Yang's face turned red and she looked away from her teammates. Even Blake had a small blush and an awkward look on her face.

"…Okay, seriously, what's going on!?" Weiss asked in an irritated tone, having grown tired of all the weird behavior around her. "Can either one of you finally tell me what is up with Yang or is this going to remain a mystery!?"

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!" Blake quickly said. "It's just a bit… awkward to say it..."

"Alright. Fine. Whatever. I just want to know the truth finally!" the white-haired girl said. "So what is going on?"

"Okay… The thing is that yesterday when Yang was alone with Ruby, they had a bit of an… incident, so to speak," the cat faunus began to explain. "She saw that Ruby was very tired from her studies and decided to help her by giving her a massage."

"A massage? What's so bad about a massage?" Weiss asked, confused as to why this was such a bad thing. "So far, I have no idea as to why Yang would be acting the way she has."

"The awkward part hasn't come yet," Blake replied. "As Yang was giving the massage, Ruby fell asleep. Once this happened, Yang began to touch and inspect Ruby's body, like her scars and muscles."

"Uh huh. I can see this being a bit odd, but not to the level of acting like a blushing wreck," the heiress said with a nod. "Don't get me wrong, I can definitely see a problem here, but it still doesn't seem as bad as you're making it out to be."

When Weiss said "making it out", Yang's face turned even more red than before and her eyes went wide. The blonde girl also covered her face with her hands from embarrassment and curled up her body into a ball, almost like she was trying to hide from sight.

"Wait, what's going on now?" the white-haired girl asked while looking at both of her teammates in confusion. "What is up with Yang's reaction?"

"You accidentally said something that really struck her," Blake answered. "You see, Yang didn't simply inspect Ruby's body, while she was asleep. She actually almost kissed her… On the lips…"

For a moment, Weiss only stood in silence as her mind was processing this new information. After that, her eyes went as wide as possible and her face turned completely red.

"She… Ruby… WHAT!?" the heiress yelled from shock.

"You heard me. Yang almost kissed Ruby," Blake said. "That is why she has been acting strange all morning."

"Okay… I'm going to need to take a seat," Weiss said as she sat down on her bed while massaging her temples. "I can now understand what's been wrong between those two today. Although, this does raise a new problem that I'm not sure I want to get involved with. I mean, how are we supposed to even help in this case?"

"I think we should start by talking to Yang about this," the cat faunus said before turning her attention to her partner. "So, Yang, how do you feel about all of this?"

"I THINK IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS!" the blonde girl yelled. "Can't we just try to pretend like this never happened!? You know, forget the whole thing and all!?"

"I doubt that's really a possibility. You definitely don't seem like you're about to forget any of this," Blake pointed out. "However, I think that the best way for us to get to the bottom of this whole problem is by having you honestly talk about the way you feel. For instance, what were you feeling when you almost, you know, did your thing?"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Yang grumbled and sighed. "Look, I'm not going to lie. I do love Rubes, but not the way you're probably thinking. What happened was that I got taken by the mood that was made by not only the situation I was in, but also by everything I've been going through lately. That's all!"

"Okay, so what we're you feeling, when you were "taken by the mood"?" the raven-haired girl asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Alright, listen. When I started giving Ruby her massage, I was feeling joy and relief, as she had finally allowed me to get closer to her. I mean, that's something I've been hoping for a while now, okay?" the brawler began explaining. "As I went on, I noticed just how much she has changed. Her tired expression and built body showed me just how much she has been working, which both amazed and saddened me, since she's no longer the person I used to know. I also did think that she looked quite sexy-"

Realizing what she had just said, Yang clamped her hands over her own mouth, hoping that she had not been caught calling Ruby sexy of all things. Her hopes were crushed, as she saw her two teammates stare at her with wide eyes.

"Yang, did you just-" Weiss began to ask, but was quickly cut off by the blonde girl.

"DON'T GET ME WRONG! DON'T GET ME WRONG!" Yang yelled in a panic with her face completely red. "I didn't mean to call Ruby sexy in any weird sort of way! It's just a completely innocent observation from me! That's all!"

"I'm not sure people would use the word "sexy" in a situation like this," Blake commented.

"Well, what do you expect me to say!? It's not like that word doesn't fit Rubes perfectly!" the brawler argued. "I mean, have you ever taken a good look at her, especially lately!? She has those great muscles that are not too big to make it gross, along with that cute face and overall look of hers! She has the perfect body to be described as sexy! Not to mention, her looks are only the tip of the iceberg. She's also funny, energetic and overall great to be around. She is considerate of others, always does her best no matter what, can handle herself in combat really well and she's a mechanical genius. As an extra, she also has the cutest laugh in the world and those big silver eyes of hers that you could just-"

"Okay, I think that's enough, Yang," Weiss quickly said while pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "We don't need to sit here for eternity as you go on and on about Ruby."

"I was just listing off Rubes' good points in order to explain myself!" Yang argued.

"I think you were doing a bit more than that, considering what's on the side of your mouth," the heiress pointed out.

Not knowing what her teammate was talking about, the blonde girl brought her hand to her mouth to see what she was talking about. Much to Yang's shock, she found drool there. Apparently, in the middle of talking about Ruby's good points, it had begun to fall from her mouth.

"I… This is just-!"

"Yang, don't even try," Blake said with a sigh. "Look, I can't say for certain what's going on with you, but I can tell it's nothing simple. As your teammate and friend, I'm willing to do my all to help you, but I believe that I can't do that right now. I feel that you need to do some serious thinking regarding yourself and Ruby, before I can do that. Once you've come to terms with what's going on with you, come and talk to me again. I promise that I will do all I can to assist you."

"W-What?" Yang asked, not understanding what her partner had asked her to do. "What are you talking about?"

"You know that already, so don't pretend to be oblivious," the cat faunus answered. "Weiss, let's leave for now. I think Yang could use some time alone."

"Uhhh… Okay," the white-haired girl replied, still somewhat taken aback by everything that had just happened.

The monochrome duo walked out of the dorm, leaving their blonde teammate alone. Now that she was on her own, Yang sat down on Weiss' bed and let out a deep sigh. She had a long day ahead of her.

* * *

Just outside team RWBY's dorm, Weiss and Blake were walking down the hallway with no clear destination on their minds. They just needed to give Yang some time alone to sort out her thoughts, so they had left.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave Yang on her own?" Weiss suddenly asked. "I mean, this is some big stuff she's dealing with here. Don't you think we should have stayed there with her?"

"Even if we had stayed, what good would it have done? At worst, we would have only added to her confusion, so I think this was for the best," Blake answered. "Right now, Yang needs to figure out things on her own before we can really help her in any way. When that time comes, we need to be ready to do our best to support her."

"But the thing that she's going through right now… Are you sure there's anything that can be done?" the white-haired girl asked. "I mean, she and Ruby might not be related, but still…"

"I will admit that this whole thing is rather… weird, to say the least, but there's not much we can do about it," the cat faunus said. "No matter what happens, Yang is still going to be one of my best friends, so I will do my best to help her. Besides, I doubt either one of us is really one to judge."

Weiss turned to look at her teammate with a somewhat offended and angry look on her face. She knew what Blake was talking about with that last statement.

"Now look here! I know my family has done its fair share of misdeeds, but I am actually doing all I can to change that!" the heiress argued. "I know that I haven't achieved anything great in that regard yet, but-"

"I wasn't denying that. In fact, I truly believe that you are doing all you can and that your heart is in the right place," Blake said, cutting off her teammate. "However, that still doesn't wash away the things your family has done or your involvement in them. No matter what anyone does, what is done is done. Also, I am not saying I'm any better than you are, as I have my fair share of sins weighing me down. I was just pointing out that the two of us aren't exactly in a position to judge Yang and should do what we can to help her as her friends and teammates."

Understanding what her friend was saying, Weiss immediately lost the anger she had just been feeling and a look of guilt came to her face. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't really argue against what the faunus girl had just said. They had both committed their own crimes and nothing would change that.

"You know, sometimes I'm surprised by just how messed up our lives truly are," the white-haired girl muttered. "Not just you and me, but Yang and Ruby as well."

"That's life for you," Blake said with a small smile.

* * *

Back with Yang, the blonde girl was still sitting on Weiss' bed while holding her head. She could feel a headache coming as she was trying to think about the current mess she was in.

'_Okay, let's think about this logically,'_ Yang thought to herself. _'I know that some of the things I've said and done seem to point at a certain conclusion, BUT I'm sure I can explain the whole thing with logic. I might have called Rubes sexy, but that doesn't mean I'm actually attracted to her or anything like that, right? I was just being honest about how she looks. I mean, sexy is a fitting word to describe her.'_

The brawler nodded to herself a couple of times, seemingly satisfied with her train of thought.

'_That's right! And the whole kiss can also be explained in a similar way!' _Yang thought as she felt her spirit rise and a smile made its way to her face. _'It isn't like that would have been the only time I have kissed her! We have kissed each other plenty of times before! Sure, those were on the cheek, nose or the forehead instead of the lips, but I'm sure that was just because of hard things have been between us! I've felt like there's this big gap between us and she's been drifting away from me all this time! I was just acting out on those feelings of loss and despair! That is all!'_

Happy with the way her logic seemed to be working out, the blonde girl stood up with a somewhat triumphant look on her face and began to pace around the dorm.

'_YES! That's all this has been! Nothing but a mixture of innocent observations and me feeling like I've been losing Ruby!'_ Yang thought happily. _'Even the whole drooling bit I had while I was listing of Rubes' good points was all because of…! Because of…'_

The brawler's pacing came to a sudden stop. Her once triumphant smile had completely disappeared from her face, as she struggled to continue her logic.

'…_Okay, I'll admit that it was pretty weird, but I'm sure it can be logically explained!'_ Yang thought to herself. _'I mean, I do think that Rubes is very good-looking and that her personality is just the best there is, but that doesn't mean I like her in such a way! Ruby's just someone I love and care about very deeply! A person that I have always enjoyed spending time with and is almost always on my mind! Someone who brightens my day by just being close to me! A person I would trust my life with and would follow anywhere. Ruby is someone that I admire and want to be acknowledged by, because I care about her opinion on me that much. No one else has ever mattered to me as much as Rubes, as I… I…'_

The blonde girl went completely silent as her eyes widened and her face turned red. Without making a noise, she sat down on Weiss' bed and stared dumbfounded into nothingness.

"…I'm actually in love with Ruby," Yang finally said in a whisper.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby was hanging out with the members of team LION again, playing video games in the third-year team's dorm. Despite having a good time with her friends, the redhead couldn't help but think about some of the things that had happened that day. One particular thing that she kept thinking about was how the members of team DEUS had suddenly approached her, almost like they had wanted her on their team.

"Suck it, Isabella!" Elaine suddenly cheered, as her character knocked the dark-skinned girl's character off the arena, ending the match. "That's what you get for messing with the champ!"

"DAMMIT!" Isabella yelled angrily over her loss.

"Okay, who wants to take the next round?" the red-haired third-year asked while looking over the occupants of the room. "How about you, Ruby? Do you want to try this out?"

"Umm… Sure, but I kind of want to ask something first," Ruby replied. "I've been thinking about what happened earlier today with team DEUS and how you guys said that you were going to protect me from "poachers." What exactly was that all about?"

"Oh, right! We totally forgot to tell you about all of that! Sorry," Elaine apologized. "You see, we recently learned about the real reason you've been working with us and some other teams heard it as well. This is what led to them flocking to you the way they did."

"The real reason behind me working with you guys?" the scythe-wielder wondered. "I thought this whole thing was just an experiment by the teachers to see how well I would perform and I would get special recommendations for the time I graduated. Was that not the reason?"

"That's what you were told, but don't you think that wouldn't have been a good enough prize, considering the risk you took?" the older redhead asked back with a small grin. "Nah, the real reward is something a lot better."

"Then what is it?"

"If you perform well enough, which we are certain you will, you'll be allowed to skip straight to us third-years."

For a moment, the whole room was completely silent, as Ruby could only stare at Elaine with wide eyes. She was trying to see if there were any signs that the older girl was lying, but saw none. The young redhead looked at the other members of team LION and saw them give her similar looks. They were all serious about this.

"Y-You guys really mean it?" Ruby asked as she felt her excitement build up within her. "I'm going to become a third-year?"

"You sure are," Elaine replied with a smile. "I mean, it should be more than assured that you're going to become one, considering how well you've- Oof!"

The older team leader was cut off by the scythe-wielder suddenly tackling her in a hug. Ruby even had tears fall from her eyes out of pure happiness.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" the young redhead said cheerfully. "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I can't believe it!"

Elaine smiled as she gently hugged Ruby back. Knowing all that the younger girl had gone through, it was nice to see her this happy. The older girl thought that it was about time something good happened to her friend for once.

"Hey, no need to thank me or anyone else here. It's thanks to your skills that this is happening," Elaine said. "The only way anyone can skip years in their training like this is through hard work and dedication, which you have shown a lot. You deserve this more than anyone else."

"Thanks, Elaine," Ruby said with a smile. "But what team am I going to join? Aren't all third-year teams full already?"

"Well, nothing has been exactly set up yet, but it's most likely that you will be joining us," the older redhead replied with a small grin. "After all, you've been working with us quite well for some time now, so it wouldn't make any sense to have you placed with an entirely new team."

The scythe-wielder nodded. It made sense for her to be placed in team LION, considering how they've been working together for some time now. Ruby could barely contain her excitement and joy over the fact that she would not only greatly advance in becoming a Huntress, but she would also get to join the team of her friends. She wondered how her current teammates would react to these news. The young team leader was certain that Weiss would surely be jealous.

Upon thinking about her teammates, Ruby realized something. It was probably for the best not to tell any of them about this. The three older girls had been causing her a lot of trouble for some time now, especially Yang. If they were told about the possibility that their leader would get promoted to a third-year, there was a chance that they would somehow ruin it.

Although Ruby was certain that her teammates would be happy to get rid of her, she also knew that jealousy and envy could bring out the worst in people, as she had experienced this ever since she came to Beacon. It would be best to play it safe and leave her team in the dark.

With her mind made up, the young scythe-wielder was determined to achieve her promotion in order to become the best Huntress she could ever be, and to get a place in Beacon where she could be truly happy.

* * *

**Author's notes: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I had some trouble when it came to writing this and I've also gotten a lot more work on me lately. My studies at my school are taking up a good amount of my time now, so that has hindered my work a bit.**

**I've actually got something interesting planned for the reveal of Ruby's actual father. When I started writing this, I got some ideas that I really hope you guys will like. I'm honestly pretty excited to see how it all turns out.**

**For the guest (and possibly others) asking about my opinions on volume 7, the problem isn't that I haven't had the chance to watch it, but I actually haven't had the will to watch it. I've been rather disappointed by not only the direction RWBY has taken, but also with Rooster Teeth themselves. The reason my profile only says that "I'm a big fan of RWBY" is because I just haven't gotten around to change it. I doubt I'll give any sort of an opinion on volume 7, as the things I've seen and heard regarding both RWBY and RT have taken away any desire I had to watch it. I'm still considering doing it, but I doubt I will.**

**Let me be clear on one thing. I am in no way telling YOU not to watch it. If you like the show and enjoy it, you should watch it. You should do that which feels good for you. Just understand that I am doing the same thing by not watching it. I still care about the series (obviously), but I just don't agree with the choices RT has made regarding it. I sincerely hope you all understand and accept my stance on this.**

**I won't speak anymore on this subject on any of these chapters, as that isn't allowed by the rules on this site. If you do want to talk about it, please PM me. I'll answer as soon as I can.**

**Anyways, I hope you all liked the chapter and that you'll stay safe during these difficult times.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	25. Struggles

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 25: Struggles**

The next morning, Weiss was the first one to wake up in the dorm of team RWBY. Ruby had decided to spend the night with team LION, so the three older girls were the only ones there. The heiress yawned and looked around, seeing her other two teammates. Much like she had suspected, Blake was still sleeping, but Yang seemed a bit strange for some reason. After rubbing her eyes a bit to clear her vision, Weiss realized that the blonde girl was wearing her regular clothes was laying on the bed. Once she got a better look at her teammate, the white-haired girl found out that the brawler was simply staring up at the roof, like it held the answers to every question in the universe.

Somewhat freaked out by the way her teammate was acting, Weiss walked up to Blake and gently shook her to wake her up. The cat faunus grumbled, displeased for the shaking, and sat up on her bed.

"What is it, Weiss? Why did you have to wake me up?" Blake asked in an annoyed tone. "Seriously, I was just getting to the good part too. It was just like from volume two of Ninjas of-"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't really care about whatever dream you were just having, okay?" Weiss said, cutting off her complaining teammate. "It's Yang. Something is seriously wrong with her."

"…Isn't that pretty much normal for her?" the raven-haired girl asked, not bothered by what she had just heard. "I honestly don't think normal is even a fitting term to describe Yang at all. I think you should be aware of that as well."

"While I do have to agree with that statement, this is a different type of weird," the heiress answered. "This isn't Yang's typical "I'll annoy you to death with my antics that question my sanity" type of weird. This is more like "seriously disturbing" kind of weird. You need to see this."

Blake sighed and got up from her bed, not fully believing that things were as bad as Weiss making them out to be. However, upon seeing the state of her partner, the cat faunus had to admit that something was seriously wrong.

"Do you see? She's just laying there, completely motionless while staring up at the ceiling," Weiss said. "Any idea what could be going on?"

"I might know what this is all about, but I need to see if my guess is correct," Blake replied.

The raven-haired girl got a chair and placed it next to her and Yang's bunk bed, so she could stand on it and properly look over her partner. After doing this, Blake waved her hand in front of Yang's face and snapped her fingers in the hopes of getting a reaction from the blonde girl. When this didn't work, the cat faunus decided to call out to her.

"Yang? Are you okay?" Blake asked in a soft tone. "Is everything okay with you?"

"Yes. Everything is alright with me," Yang answered in a deadpan voice tone. "There's absolutely nothing wrong at all right now."

"Are you sure? You don't seem to be okay," the raven-haired girl said.

"I am absolutely, positively, a hundred percent sure that there is nothing wrong with me right now," the brawler said in the same deadpan tone. "There have been no awful things that have happened to me recently, like shocking revelations about myself that have greatly shaken me."

"…This is about you being in love with Ruby, isn't it?"

As soon as Blake said those words, Yang's face turned completely red and she sat up straight on her bed. A panicked look was on her face, as she was talking in a speed that would leave Oobleck in the dust.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! NO WAY IN HELL! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" the brawler yelled. "THEIRS IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WEIRD GOING ON BETWEEN ME AND RUBES! NOT IN ANY KIND OF SENSE! ESPECIALLY ANYTHING THAT INVOLVES ME HAVING ROMANTIC FEELINGS TOWARDS HER! WHERE WOULD YOU GET THAT IDEA!?"

"…In other words, this IS about Ruby, right?"

Yang wanted to deny it, but she couldn't. It was obvious that her teammates had seen through her and she herself knew it to be true. She was in love with Ruby Rose.

"Alright, I'll admit it, okay!? I like Ruby, but not just as a friend or a sister! I like her in a romantic way as well!" the blonde girl shouted. "THERE! Are you happy now!?"

"I would be happy if you didn't try to damage my hearing with all that yelling," Weiss complained while holding her ears with a slightly pained look on her face. "Honestly, if this is such an embarrassing thing for you, maybe you shouldn't broadcast it to everyone in Beacon!"

"…Sorry," Yang apologized with an embarrassed blush on her face.

"All the noise aside, I'm glad that you have admitted your feelings for Ruby," Blake said. "The first step with any type of problem is to admit it, as you can't move forward while in denial. Now that we have managed to reach this state, what are you planning to do?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to keep this to myself and never let Ruby know!" the brawler stated proudly.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said! I am not going to let Ruby ever know that I have feelings for her!" Yang said. "I mean, what good would come out of it, if I were to even confess? Nothing at all! I'm just going to keep this as a secret, until the end of time!"

"Yang, even though you are free to do whatever you want regarding this, as your partner, I have to say that's the absolute WORST way for you to handle this," Blake said.

"Oh really? And how is that?" the blonde girl asked, not believing her partner at all.

"First of all, trying to hold a secret gets worse with time. The pressure you'll feel will only increase until you either hold out or finally give in," the cat faunus began to explain. "However, the worst part will be the constant doubt you will feel within you. I can guarantee that you will keep asking yourself, "What if I had just confessed?" over and over again, which will be accompanied by you imagining yourself in the best case scenario. Not to mention, you won't be able to live with the idea of someone else being with Ruby. Just try imagining that right now. How does that make you feel?"

Yang was about to say that she wasn't affected by such thoughts at all, but stopped herself. Upon thinking about it further, the brawler could feel her heart break just thinking about the idea of Ruby being all romantic with someone else. Even if she tried to reason with herself about it, it didn't help. No matter who she imagined with the redhead, she felt horrible.

This reaction was obvious to Weiss and Blake as well. They could see how Yang's eyes went wide, her face turned pale and there were even signs of tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. The blonde girl soon curled her body up into a fetal position and trembled slightly.

"You're right, Blake… I can't live with it," Yang said quietly while struggling not to cry. "No matter what type of reasoning I try to use, I can't help but want to be the one to hold Ruby. Just what am I going to do?"

"Hey, it's going to be okay, Yang. We'll help you get through this," Blake said in a comforting tone, having noticed the distress her partner was going through. "Right now, I feel like there is only one thing you can really do. Talk."

"But I've already talked about this with the two of you. How would talking about this more help?" the blonde girl asked.

"Not us. I meant that you should talk about this with Ruby," the raven-haired girl answered with a slightly frustrated sigh. "One way or another, you are going to have to come clean and tell her your feelings. It's only a matter of when you'll do it."

"No way! Do you have any idea how bad that would turn out!?" Yang quickly refused. "Not only does she still consider us sisters, but things between us aren't exactly the best. Me confessing my feelings for her would not end happily!"

"Okay, maybe you don't have to confess right away, but at some point you will have to!" Blake said. "Like it or not, Ruby is the one you have feelings for, so the only way for you to avoid horrible heartbreak when it comes to this is to be honest and confess your feelings to her! Also, you should remember that the longer you spend time not doing it, many others are going to get a chance to confess and possibly win her over!"

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" the brawler yelled out of frustration and thought about her situation for a moment. While she knew that confessing to Ruby at this point was pretty much hopeless, she couldn't deny that her partner had a point. Even if most first-year students didn't see it, Ruby was an amazing person, so it was only a matter of time before someone with courage came up to her and asked her out. Not to mention, with her newfound popularity among third-years, the chances of someone wooing her were actually quite high. "Okay, I'll do it. There's just no getting around it, is there?"

"Not really, I'm afraid," Blake said with a shrug. "So when are you going to do it? Today after classes?"

Before Yang could answer, Weiss cleared her throat, getting the attention of her teammates.

"Speaking of classes, we should start hurrying," the white-haired girl said. "I think our first class will be starting soon."

"How soon exactly?" Blake asked.

Weiss took out her Scroll and checked the time, only for her eyes to go wide from shock.

"…In the next four minutes to be exact."

* * *

The classes for the WBY went on a normal manner, with the exception of being late to their first one. During the classes, Ruby was still keeping her distance to her teammates, which Yang wasn't sure how to feel about. On one hand, her feelings towards the younger girl were a mess, so the distance helped her keep herself calm, but on the other hand, the blonde girl couldn't deny the fact that she wanted to be close to the girl she knew she was in love with.

Eventually, it was lunch time for the students. The three older girls of team RWBY were sitting at a table among themselves, while their team leader was sitting further away from them. As they were eating, Yang kept glancing towards Ruby, practically unable to take her eyes away from the redhead.

"Yang, calm down," Weiss told firmly to her teammate. "Ruby isn't going to disappear if you stop looking at her, so eat your lunch and stop staring at her like some stalker."

"Easy for you to say, princess!" Yang said. "You have no idea how tough this is for me!"

"I might not know how tough it is, but I also don't care!" the white-haired girl said angrily. "What I do know is that if you keep staring at Ruby the way you've been doing for some time now, she's eventually going to notice and question you about it! When that happens, I doubt you'll be able to give a proper explanation!"

The brawler was about to retort, but Blake cut her off.

"Weiss is right, Yang. You should really calm yourself," the cat faunus said calmly. "Not only is there a possibility that Ruby will notice your staring, but I'm certain other students can, too. Seeing as how much of a sore subject your whole deal regarding Ruby is, I think you would want to avoid such attention."

Yang let out frustrated sigh and shook her head. This whole mess was driving her insane. While she didn't want Ruby to know about her feelings for her, the blonde girl also just wanted to let the redhead know and for this whole thing to be over with.

For a moment, Yang was completely silent as she simply stared down at her bacon sandwich and thought about what to do. She then suddenly shoved her food into her mouth and swallowed it whole, before getting up from her seat.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Weiss asked, surprised by her teammate's sudden act. "We still have plenty of time for our lunch."

"This isn't about lunch or classes," the brawler answered. "I'm going to go and talk to Ruby and tell her how I feel."

"Right now?" Blake asked with wide eyes. "Weren't you going to do that after classes?"

"By that time, I'll have already gone insane," Yang replied as she started to walk towards Ruby. "I'm going to do this now and get it over with."

The monochrome duo was left speechless as they stared after their leaving teammate. While they were happy that Yang had apparently gotten the courage to go and confess her feelings, they couldn't help but worry about how well it would go.

"So what do you think, Weiss?" Blake asked the white-haired girl. "Do you think Yang can pull this off?"

Weiss was about to answer, but then she noticed a familiar group of students heading towards Ruby. They would arrive at the redhead's table at the same time as Yang would.

"Oh no…" the heiress said almost inaudibly. "It's team DEUS."

"Team DEUS? Who are they?" the raven-haired girl asked, wondering what was up with her teammate's reaction. "Should we be worried about them?"

It was then that Weiss realized she had forgotten to tell Blake and Yang about what had happened yesterday. How another third-year team had saved Ruby and seemed to have taken a strange interest in her.

* * *

'_I've got this all figured out. I mean, how hard can a simple confession be? Please! That's nothing for me!'_ Yang thought to herself while walking towards Ruby. _'After all, this is ME we're talking about here! Have you seen me? I'm Yang freaking Xiao Long! There's no way that a love confession of all things is going to beat me!'_

The blonde girl was soon standing next to the younger girl, who stopped eating her lunch and was now looking at the older girl with a confused expression.

"Yang? What is it?" Ruby asked. "Do you need something?"

"No- Well, kind of- I mean, I do require-," Yang began to babble, unable to find the right words to say. Her face turned red from anxiety as she tried her best to speak up. "Look, I need to talk to you alone. Is that okay?"

The young team leader was about to answer, but a certain third-year managed to cut her off.

"Hey! We saw her first, so back off!" Dalia yelled in an annoyed tone, getting the attention of both first-year students. "Seriously, if you want a turn with her, take a number and get in the back of the line!"

"What are you talking about?" Yang asked, annoyed over this sudden interruption. "I really need to talk with Ruby right now, so can't you just wait a moment?"

"So you can get a chance with Ruby first!? Like hell I'm going to let that happen!" the third-year girl said angrily. "I know that you're trying to poach her just like we are, so don't even try that! We have actually gotten to know her already, so you might as well stop wasting your time and just buzz off!"

"Poach her? What the hell are you talking about!?" the brawler asked as her eyes turned red for a second. "Why aren't I allowed to talk to my own team leader!?"

"Wait a minute… Did you just call Ruby your team leader?" Dalia asked. "Are you-?"

"I think she's Yang Xiao Long, D. One of Ruby's teammates," one of the third-year girl's teammates told her.

Dalia's eyes went wide in surprise for a moment, before a confident smirk made its way to her face.

"Oh, I see… My bad. I thought you were a competitor," the third-year leader said in an almost condescending tone. "But now that I see it's someone who is not a threat, I might as well let you have a moment with Ruby. I mean, I am a kind senior, after all."

"Just what are you talking-!?" Yang began to ask, but stopped herself. She had better things to worry about than some third-years. "Never mind. I'm taking Ruby with me for a moment. You four can wait a while."

"Hey, don't I get to-?" Ruby tried to ask, but was cut off as the blonde girl grabbed her arm and dragged her away. "Guess my opinion doesn't matter…"

Once the two first-year students had left, one of Dalia's teammates decided to speak up.

"D, was it really a good idea to just let her take Ruby with her?" the teammate asked. "I mean, we don't even really know what Yang wanted to talk about with Ruby."

"Oh relax. It's not a big deal, as no harm can come from it," Dalia replied. "After all, we have all heard the rumors, right? Ruby isn't treated all that well by the first-years, even in her own team. The way I see it, whatever that blondie is going to say to Ruby is either not going to affect our efforts at all or might even help us. We just need to show Ruby how much better our team is and we'll have her as one of us in no time."

"I get your point, but that's not exactly what I was talking about. Lunch is nearly over, so unless the thing Ruby's teammate wants to talk about with her takes only a couple of seconds, we won't have any time to speak with her at all."

Dalia's eyes went wide with realization. She had just foiled her own plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yang had dragged Ruby to a more secluded area in the school, so she could have her talk with the younger girl. Ruby herself was confused over what was going on. She couldn't think of any reason that the older girl would want to talk with her alone.

'_Alright, I've got her with me and no one else is around. Step one complete! Now I just need to say what I want to say and that should be mission accomplished,' _Yang thought to herself, while getting ready to confess. _'Huh… This is weird. What's with this sudden feeling of apprehension that I've suddenly gotten?'_

"Yang, what was it that you wanted to talk about with me?" Ruby asked, snapping the brawler out of her thoughts. "I'm right here, we're alone, so go ahead and talk to me."

After swallowing hard, Yang opened her mouth to speak up, but no words came out. She tried her best to talk, but nothing came of it. All she could do was keep opening and closing her mouth, which reminded the redhead of a goldfish.

"Yang, is something wrong?" Ruby asked, somewhat disturbed by the way the older girl was acting. "We can do this at some other time, if it's okay with you."

"NO! I need to get this done now!" Yang suddenly yelled, scaring the young team leader a bit. The blonde girl was determined to see through her confession. "Ruby… I… You… I… You…"

"Yes, we are both here," Ruby said as she was starting to get creeped out by the way the older girl was acting. "I'm pretty sure that has already been established, so can you move on with what you needed to talk about with me?"

"Well… I… something, something… feelings!" Yang kept struggling to say the words she wanted to say as her face turned red from embarrassment. "AAAAARRRGGGHHH!"

Not being able to talk properly was starting to frustrate the brawler, causing her to let out an angered roar before walking up to the nearest wall and hitting her head on it a couple of times. Cracks appeared on the spot that Yang hit with her head, as she wasn't holding back.

This sudden act didn't just surprise Ruby, but actually terrified her. The way the older girl was acting made the redhead think that she had lost her mind and was possibly becoming violent.

Having calmed down after bashing the wall, Yang walked back to Ruby, which only scared the younger girl further. This was due to the blonde girl's appearance, as not only was there a small trail of blood falling down from her forehead, but her eyes were also red and her hair was glowing due to her Semblance activating. This wasn't because of anger, but because of her raging emotions. Thanks to her feeling frustration, nervousness and embarrassment in such high levels, her Semblance had launched without herself even knowing.

"RUBY!" Yang accidentally yelled.

"Y-Yes!?" Ruby squeaked out in fear.

"THERE'S SOMETHING THAT I… I… I…" the brawler tried speaking out her feelings, but failed again. She couldn't understand how saying a couple of important words could be so hard. "GRAAAHH! WHY IS THIS SO HARD!?"

Having finally had enough, the redhead decided to make a run for it. She didn't know if Yang was angry at her or acting crazy for some other reason, but she didn't feel like finding out.

"Y-Y-You know what, Yang!? I think we need to do this some other time!" Ruby quickly said as she started to run away. "I feel like that's for the best!"

"RUBY, WAIT!" Yang yelled after the younger girl, only for her to disappear in a cloud of rose petals. "I have something I need to tell you…"

With her attempt at confessing having failed, the blonde girl could only walk up to the wall and bang her head against it again, except this time she was just lightly tapping it. The weight of her failed attempt at confessing had crushed Yang's spirit so badly that she was unable to muster the strength to really hit anything.

As she was mulling over her failure, Weiss and Blake arrived there. When the monochrome duo saw the state their friend was in, they immediately became worried and rushed over to her.

"Yang, what's wrong?" Blake asked in a worried tone. "Did you… get rejected by Ruby?"

"No… I couldn't even bring myself to confess," Yang answered in a sad tone as she sat on the floor and hung her head down. "For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to say how I felt about her and I just ended up embarrassing myself and scaring her away."

"What could you have done to scare away Ruby?" Weiss asked, before noticing the damaged wall. "Never mind…"

"It's stupid, isn't it? I'm ready to face Grimm with a smile on my face and no fear at all, yet confessing to someone is pretty much impossible for me," the brawler said. "I don't get it. How could I mess up so badly?"

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Blake tried to comfort her partner. "Confessions aren't exactly easy in the first place, let alone in a situation like yours."

"I guess so… I mean, this all still feels so weird, you know?" Yang said. "I know we aren't actually related, but it wasn't too long ago that I was treating her as my sister. Now I'm actually in love with her. It's just crazy."

"Well, how about you talk about your feelings for Ruby with someone you know and trust? Preferably from your family," Weiss suggested. "I feel like that could help clear away some of the tension you're feeling from all of this, which could help you when you try to confess again. Not to mention, you're going to have to let them know at some point, so you could clear that hurdle out of your way now."

Yang thought about the heiress' suggestion and it seemed to make sense. By talking to someone she knew she could trust, not only would she gain more confidence in regards to Ruby, but she would also clear away the fear of letting them know about her feelings for the redhead.

Now, the big question for the blonde girl was who to talk to. Two people immediately came to mind, her dad and Uncle Qrow. It was inevitable that they would eventually find out about her feelings for Ruby, so she might as well talk to one of them. However, her father, Taiyang, was still broken over the losses he had gone through in life with Raven first leaving him and then Summer dying. Yang feared that telling him such shocking news might be a bit too much for him.

Qrow, on the other hand, felt like the perfect person to talk to. He was much more of a free spirit and didn't judge people harshly. Not to mention, Yang was certain that if she asked, the old crow wouldn't tell about her situation to anyone.

"Thanks, Weiss. I think I'll try out your suggestion," the brawler said as she stood up. "I already know the perfect person to talk to, so I'm sure it will work out."

"You're welcome," Weiss said with a small smile, happy to have been a help. "Hope things work out well for you."

With Yang's spirit lifted, the three girls began to make their way to their next class. As they were walking, Weiss realized she and Blake had forgotten something.

"Hey, do you think we should tell Yang about the other third-year teams going after Ruby?" the white-haired girl whispered to the cat faunus. "We kind of got caught up with the moment and forgot to tell her earlier."

"I don't think we should. We're not even sure what that is all about, after all," Blake whispered back. "As far as we know, it could be something completely harmless, so we shouldn't make Yang worry more. It could lead to some bad consequences. You know how she likes to overreact when it comes to Ruby."

Deciding to keep their latest finding a secret from their blonde teammate for now, the monochrome duo were going to ask their team leader about it later. Yang was already really stressed out with her newly discovered feelings for Ruby, along with everything else that had been happening lately. It would be best to confirm the whole things, instead of jumping to any sort of conclusions.

They would find the truth, no matter what. At the same time, they hoped that Yang's talk with her uncle would go well.

* * *

**Author's notes:** **We'll soon learn the truth about Ruby's father. While I can't say for sure that it will be in the next chapter, I can promise that it will happen very soon in this story. I can't wait to see how you will react to it.**

**I've also been meaning to say this for quite some time, but I've always forgotten due to having so many things on my mind. I would like to thank you all for the massive support this story has gotten, especially with the favorites. When I started, I would have never guessed that this story would get so many favorites from you all. It's even getting close to beating War for Ruby. Seeing so you give so much love to this story has really made me happy and motivated me to continue. So once again, thank you all.**

**On a not so happy note… my birthday was last week… so… woo hoo, I guess…**

**Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter and will check out the next one.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	26. Tough Talks

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 26: Tough Talks**

Ruby was feeling good about herself. Not only had her life taken a massive turn for the better with her getting to work with and befriend team LION, but she was also on her way to skipping more years and becoming a third-year. It seemed like the redhead's hard work was finally going to pay off.

With a happy spring in her steps, Ruby was making her way to team LION's dorm. The senior students had invited her to hang out again, to play games and watch movies. The scythe-wielder was certain that she was in for a really good time.

However, Ruby's happy trip down Beacon's hallways came to a sudden stop, as she noticed a certain pair of people ahead of her. Weiss and Blake were standing in the middle of the corridor, staring at their team leader. They had most likely been waiting for the younger girl to show up, as they knew she would come through there to go to team LION.

"Weiss? Blake? What's up?" Ruby asked in a slightly nervous tone. She had not expected her teammates to be acting like this. "Why are you here?"

"Ruby, we need to talk to you about something," Weiss answered. "It's about the way some third-year teams have been acting towards you."

"Could you be a bit more specific?" the redhead asked, trying to feign ignorance over what her teammates were talking about.

"It's this strange interest a bunch of third-year teams seem to have taken in you," Blake said. "At first, it seemed like only team LION was interested in you, but it seems other teams have started acting similarly. We've seen some team called DEUS approach you, as well as a few others. What is all that about? Why are they so strangely interested in you?"

"Oh that? It's nothing big, I swear!" Ruby quickly lied. "It's just that some of the other third-year teams have gotten this idea that they could better their grades by working with me! That's all!"

"Is that really what's happening?" the cat faunus asked, not fully believing her team leader.

"Sure is!" the redhead replied. "Now, I'm in a hurry, so-"

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Weiss suddenly asked in an accusing tone. "Tell us what's really going on, Ruby."

The young team leader was taken aback by her partner's words. While Ruby knew that she wasn't exactly the best when it came to lying, there was no reason for Weiss to use such a tone with her. Not to mention, the way the younger girl saw it, her business with the third-years was something that didn't concern her own teammates, so she didn't even have a reason to explain herself.

"What are you getting at, Weiss?" Ruby asked calmly, but one could notice hints of anger in her voice.

"Look, it's obvious that there is something weird going on with you right now," Weiss began to explain. "While I will admit that you're rather skilled, I don't believe that just having you on a team is enough to boost the grades of the students. Not to mention, even if that was true, it cannot be that big of a change that whole teams would seek you out, especially third-years. Now, would you mind telling us just what is really going on?"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the three girls. The heiress was waiting for an answer from her partner, while Blake was nervously looking between Ruby and Weiss. Even though the cat faunus wanted to know what was going on with her team leader, she didn't want to do it in such a hostile way Weiss had. The relationship they had with Ruby was already in a bad shape, so they should avoid making things worse.

Blake was about to open her mouth in an attempt to fix the mess the white-haired girl had caused, but Ruby managed to speak up before her. The redhead's tone was cold and was dripping with anger that brought chills to the older girls.

"And just how would you know?" Ruby asked while glaring at Weiss. "How do you know that what I just said isn't true? Have you seen the work I've done with team LION and the results from it? Of course you haven't. You just think that the only person to be able to accomplish the things I have is yourself, the great Schnee heiress. All others are beneath you and could never be as good as you are."

For a moment, all Weiss and Blake could do was stand still in shock and stare at their team leader with wide eyes. While the raven-haired girl knew that Ruby wouldn't be happy over what the white-haired girl had said, the hostility that was dripping from the younger girl's voice was honestly terrifying. Throughout her life, Blake had encountered hateful people of all types and her experience was telling her that they were currently just seeing the tip of the iceberg. She could only hope that they wouldn't give Ruby a reason to unleash more.

"What did you just say!?" Weiss asked angrily, causing Blake to scream inside her head. "How dare you-"

"Oh, I dare! You know why!? Because I am sick of your damn "I'm better than everybody" attitude!" Ruby yelled as she stepped up to her partner, effectively shutting up the older girl. "Honestly, where do you get this idea that no one can be better than you!? There are at least hundreds of others that are studying to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, yet you automatically think you're the best there is!? That you're the only one who works hard!? Give me a break! Do you have even the slightest idea how hard I have worked!? I've spent entire nights studying! I've worked on my equipment until I couldn't feel my fingers! I've trained so hard that I've coughed up blood and felt like my body was on fire! Have you ever done any of that!? I HIGHLY DOUBT IT!"

"Ruby, please calm down!" Blake quickly said as she stepped between her two teammates. "I know what Weiss said was wrong, but-"

"Don't you even dare start, Blake!" the redhead yelled at the faunus girl. "You're just as bad as she is!"

"W-What are you-"

"I know you've had a hard life and you're still having problems. We ALL know that. I'm willing to help you, not just because I'm your team leader, but I'm also supposed to be your friend," Ruby started somewhat calmly before unleashing her anger and frustration towards the raven-haired girl. "But you should understand that other people can have it tough as well! INCLUDING ME! You have no idea of what I have to go through in my life nor do you most likely even care! In your eyes, you're the only one that has it rough while everyone else is all fine and dandy! You could NOT be farther from the truth! And to make it worse, whenever I need help or could just use a friend, you act like I don't even exist! PEOPLE AREN'T JUST SOME OBJECTS THAT YOU CAN CHOOSE WHEN TO DEAL WITH, BLAKE!"

The redhead's sudden outburst had left both Weiss and Blake speechless. One of the reasons for that was the shock of seeing Ruby act like this, as they could have never expected the younger girl to do something like this. Ruby was pretty much the embodiment of kindness and innocence, so her saying things like this was something they couldn't even imagine.

However, the one thing that truly left the older girl silent was the fact that the young team leader was right. No matter how much they wanted to deny it, Ruby had perfectly described both of them. Weiss did have the habit of considering herself to be better than others, and Blake did ignore the problems others faced. Neither one of them had considered that way of thinking as selfish at all. It was just a fact for them.

"Ruby, we're-" Blake tried to apologize while reaching a hand towards the younger girl only for her hand to get slapped away.

"Just leave me alone! I don't want to see either of you at all, so leave me be!" Ruby yelled as she turned away from her teammates. "That's what you all want anyway, don't you?"

Before either of the two older girls could do anything, the scythe-wielder used her Semblance to disappear in a cloud of rose petals.

"We… really screwed up, didn't we?" Weiss said in a low and sad tone. "Do you think we should just let her be?"

"While I think we should give her some space, we shouldn't stop trying to fix this," Blake answered. "What Ruby said was true. We have been selfishly absorbed into our own worlds without considering her at all, but that doesn't mean we can just give up. Something is going on between her and the third-year teams, and we need to find out what."

"Okay. But we need to be careful not to further upset her, okay?" the heiress said. "Did you hear her voice just before she left? She sounded so… broken. I could hardly believe it when I heard it."

The raven-haired girl simply nodded in response. While Ruby's furious outburst had been unbelievable, that broken and saddened tone was even more unbelievable. Just what could have happened to her?

Whatever the case was, Blake just hoped that Yang was doing better.

* * *

While Weiss and Blake were having their confrontation with Ruby, Yang was meeting up with her uncle in the Emerald Forest. The blonde girl had called Qrow in the hopes of setting up a meeting where she could talk with him in private, which is why she had chosen the forest as the location. Knowing how bust the old crow could be with his work, Yang had expected to either having their conversation through their Scrolls or for it to take at least a week to happen. Luckily, for the brawler, Qrow happened to be in the city at the time, which allowed then to have their conversation in person with no worries.

At the moment, Yang was sitting on a log at the edge of a clearing in the forest, waiting for her uncle to arrive. She kept nervously checking her Scroll for time and any messages that might have been sent to her, but saw nothing. When she thought about the subject she wanted to talk about with Qrow, she couldn't but get nervous and blush. The blonde girl was certain that her uncle would not be expecting such a topic.

"Hey there, firecracker," a male voice suddenly said right behind Yang, causing her to scream and fall to the ground. The brawler looked behind her and saw the grinning face of Qrow looking down at her.

"Geeze, Uncle Qrow! Did you have to do that?" Yang grumbled as she got up. "Are you trying to give your niece a heart attack or something?"

"Not really, but I just couldn't resist doing that," the old crow said with a small chuckle. "Besides, you should have expected that from me. After all, I was the one who taught you about the wonderful world of pranks."

"You sure did. Although, I would have appreciated if you hadn't used me as a scapegoat as well," the brawler said. "As nice and kind as dad is, he's terrifying when he's angered."

"Isn't that exactly why I did that? I don't want to face his wrath any more than you do," Qrow joked, earning a groan from his niece. "Anyways, you sounded quite serious on the Scroll. Has something happened?"

"Well, yeah… It's kind of a long story," Yang replied as she sat down on the log again. "It's about Ruby. Some time ago, she started to act different from her usual self."

"Really? Different how?" the uncle asked as he sat next to his niece with a worried look on his face. "She hasn't fallen under any bad influences has she? Like some bad kids who drink and use drugs-"

"NO! Nothing like that!" the blonde girl quickly said. "It wasn't exactly anything bad, to be honest. She just began to study and train more. A lot more than before."

"I don't see how that's exactly a bad thing. I mean, don't get me wrong, I never liked studying when I was a student, but it's kind of the reason students go to a school, right? Just because Ruby decided to start working a bit more doesn't exactly mean the end of the world."

"I know that it's a good thing for her! I've seen just how much her work has paid off. In just an instant, she became the top of our class in pretty much everything there was. Her grades were good before, but now they're simply amazing. I'm honestly… happy that she's doing so well," Yang explained with a small smile, which suddenly turned into a sad look. "But it's not like everything is perfect. When Ruby started to work the way she did, she also began to distance herself from us. She would often spend entire nights simply studying or working on her combat skills. Not only that, but her personality has changed as well. Ruby just doesn't feel like the same happy girl that she used to be. Sometimes I'm actually having trouble believing she's the same person still."

"Hmmm… That does sound a bit worrying," Qrow said thoughtfully. "While I can't say it's exactly the same, this sounds like some Huntsmen I've seen in my travels. People who have gone through terrible loss of some kind, which has then driven them to work non-stop in order to not let that happen again. Could something like that have happened with Ruby?"

"I honestly have no idea, but I can't help but be worried," the brawler continued. "The whole thing has only gotten worse with time as well. Not too long ago, Ruby was actually put into a third-year team for some sort of an assignment. I can't help but feel like she is slowly getting further and further away from me."

"An assignment with a third-year team? Now that is surprising," the old crow said with a hint of amazement in his voice. "Although, are you sure this is a bad thing? I mean, if things are going well for her, shouldn't you be happy for Ruby?"

"I am happy for her!" Yang quickly said before a blush came to her face and she had to look away from her uncle. "It's just that there's now another… problem that has come up from all of this."

"Really now? And just what might that be?"

Instead of answering Qrow's question right away, the blonde girl had to take a moment to calm herself. She took a couple of deep breaths before speaking again.

"You see, uncle, I have kind of realized something about myself through this," Yang began her explanation. "Ever since Ruby started to act strangely, I have felt like she's been becoming more and more distant towards me, almost like she's leaving. And that has hurt me more than anything else has ever done in my life."

"Hey, things like these unfortunately happen," Qrow said in a comforting tone. "As time goes on, we all change from the things we experience and go through. It sounds like this is happening with Ruby now and I can understand you not being completely okay with it. She's been there with you through pretty much your whole life, so it's only natural for you to feel sad over this."

"That… is true, but it's also not the real reason I feel so sad about this," the brawler said and took another deep breath. "I'm afraid I've become more than a little attached to Ruby."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Uncle Qrow… I… I'm in love with Ruby…"

After Yang's confession, a moment of silence fell over them. Qrow was so taken aback by this revelation that he couldn't help but simply stare at his niece with wide eyes, while Yang could only wait for her uncle's response to what she had just admitted.

"Okay…" the unshaven man said as he took a flask from his pocket and took a sip from it. "I was NOT expecting that."

"Are… Are you angry or disgusted with me?" Yang asked almost inaudibly, fearing the answer she might get.

"Hey now, don't start jumping to such conclusions right away, okay?" Qrow said while trying to sound comforting, which was difficult due to the shock he had just gone through. "I'll admit that your case is… special, to say the least, but I've never been one to judge others for things like this. Not only that, but I'm well aware of the special circumstances surrounding you and Ruby, so it's not exactly all bad. It is still odd and I need to kind of get used to the idea and-"

The old crow was suddenly cut off by a hug from his niece. He soon felt something wet on the place where Yang's face was, telling him that she was crying.

"I'm so glad," the blonde girl said while holding back her sobs. "I was so worried that you would be horrified with me and wouldn't want to consider me family anymore. I… I was honestly scared…"

A gentle smile made its way to Qrow's face as he began to gently rub Yang's head in a comforting manner. It took some time, but he eventually managed to calm his niece down.

"Sorry about that, uncle," Yang apologized as she wiped away her tears after breaking up the hug between them. "I didn't mean to dirty your clothes."

"It's not a big deal. I mean, laundry isn't fun, but it's better than having you bottle up your emotions," Qrow lightly joked, which made the brawler giggle a bit. "However, I am a bit curious, though. What exactly made you fall in love with Ruby? I knew you cared about her deeply, but I never expected this."

"Well… It's a bit hard to explain, since I've recently been thinking that I have always loved her. I just never realized what kind of love it was," the blonde girl began her explanation as she stood up with a thoughtful look on her face. "I always passed whatever I was feeling towards her as my sisterly instincts, but I can't say that anymore. To me, Ruby is just beautiful in every single way, not just her looks. Her loving and caring personality makes me feel good no matter what. She is always fun to be with and she knows just what to do in order to lift up my mood. I honestly consider myself lucky that I've gotten to know her far better than anyone else."

The unshaven man listened to his niece's explanation with a rather odd expression on his face. If one were to describe what he looked like, it would be shocked. However, it wasn't shock that seemed to be born from disgust or anything like that. It was something else.

Before Yang could ask what was up with her uncle, Qrow took a very big sip from his flask, leaving almost no alcohol in it.

"Uncle?" the blonde girl called out. "Is something wrong?"

"Wha-? No! Nothing's wrong!" the old crow quickly said. "I was just surprised by the things you said! That's all!"

Yang could easily tell that Qrow was lying. She had known him for long enough to see that his answer was nothing more than a hastily built up excuse that wasn't true at all.

"Really now?" the brawler asked. "Are you sure that's the real reason? Can you look me in the eyes and say that's the truth?"

Qrow tried his best, but couldn't keep up his act. He knew that he had been seen through, so with a heavy sigh he decided to tell the truth.

"Okay, you got me. The things you said wasn't the reason for my surprise," the unshaven man admitted. "The reason I was so shocked was due to how much you remind me of a certain someone. I remember them saying those exact same words a long time ago and I almost couldn't believe my ears."

"I'm guessing you're talking about one of my parents then," Yang assumed. "Which one said the same thing? Was it my mom or my dad?"

"Neither, actually," Qrow answered, earning himself a confused look from his niece. "Tell me something, which one of Ruby's parents do you think Ruby takes after?"

"Well, that's easy. Her mother obviously," Yang replied without any hesitation.

"In looks for certain, but not so much in personality," the old crow said. "Would you believe me, if I were to tell you that when we were younger, Summer used to be quite the problem child?"

"Summer!? A problem child!?" the blonde girl exclaimed in laughter, not believing what she just heard. "You have got to be joking, uncle! There's no way Summer of all people could be any sort of problem!"

"Are you able to say the same thing once you hear about a couple of things she did?" Qrow asked with a small smirk. "Back when we were in school, the first time she greeted me was with a dropkick to my back that left me aching for a week. She also managed to dye your mother's hair pink and put itching powder in Tai's clothes. Those are just a couple of examples of the pranks and other things she did to us. Even the teachers weren't safe from her stunts, including Ozpin, who had laxatives put in his coffee. I could probably go for a couple of days just talking about all the crazy things she did in Beacon."

"H-Hang on now… A-Are you serious? This isn't a joke?" Yang asked in disbelief. "The Summer I remember could have never been like that! The way I remember her, she was the perfect mom any child could have! Calm, kind and caring that never acted badly at all! Are you telling me that I'm remembering her wrong or something!?"

"Not at all. Summer was definitely all those things when she was taking care of you and Ruby," the unshaven man quickly said. "However, that's because her personality went through a big change. It was… really heartbreaking seeing her the way she was with you. Not because it was bad, but because I, along with Tai and many others, knew what had led to that change."

"What was it then? What could have possibly happened to change a person so much?" the brawler asked.

"It has to do with something that Tai, myself and others didn't want to reveal to you or Ruby, because we were afraid of how you would see us. It's something that we did or rather didn't do back in the day, but I think it's your right to know finally," Qrow explained. "It's time for you to know about Ruby's father."

* * *

**Author's notes: A few people seem to have gotten the idea that Ruby's father is somehow a bad guy in this story, which I find a bit strange. While I have not revealed much, I don't think I ever gave out the impression that he was bad in any way. In fact, if you read Chapter 24, I you would get a completely different idea of him. However, next chapter will be the big reveal about him, so that all will get cleared up then.**

**Also, while I'm going to start working on the next chapter as soon as I can, I'm afraid that I'm going to soon go on a break from writing. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, since I feel it's kind of a big chapter. After that is done, I really need to take a break from writing these stories, as a bunch of things have been piling up on me lately and I REALLY need a break. I'll give more details once the next chapter is ready.**

**Anyways, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and will check out the next one.**

**Until next one.**

**RWBY belongs to Monty Oum.**


	27. Ruben Woods

**Notice Me, Ruby!**

**Chapter 27: Ruben Woods**

Yang wasn't sure how to feel at the moment. On one hand, she was going to finally learn the truth about Ruby's father, which she had wanted to know for a long time now. However, at the same time, the tone of voice Qrow was using along with the grim expression on his face made him feel anxious. Just what was she about to hear?

Without saying anything, the blonde girl sat next to her uncle, waiting for him to start his story.

"I should probably start my story by telling you about how I got to know Ruby's father, Ruben Woods," Qrow began. "Back when we were all in Beacon, his team, team RAIN, was kind of close to ours and we often worked together on all sorts of assignments. I guess you could say our teams shared a similar relationship to what your team has with that team JNPR you've told me about."

Yang was listening intently to the story, hoping to hear more.

"Ruben himself was the leader of his team, which is how Summer got to know him so well. Due to team leaders having additional tasks, they often met up with each other and soon became close friends, which eventually led to them becoming a couple," the unshaven man continued. "While Ruby may have inherited Summer's looks, most of her personality must have come from her father. Much like Ruby, her father didn't exactly have the most outgoing personality. Ruben was shy, awkward and had more of an interest in weapons instead of partying."

"So what you're telling me is that Rubes actually takes after her father than her mother?" the blonde girl asked. "That's quite surprising, since I always thought she took after Summer more than anything. I mean, she's pretty much a younger copy of her mom."

"I know what you mean, but everything I've said is the truth. Not only did she inherit all the things that I just mentioned from her father, but her father also had a rather big sweet tooth, much like she does," Qrow added. "In fact, those cookies Summer used to make for you two were actually Ruben's favorite treat as well. She originally made them for him back when they were dating."

Yang was getting more and more excited by everything she was learning. To think that so many things came from a man she had never seen even in pictures or even heard the name of until today. It was incredible and she wanted to learn more. More about the man known as Ruben Woods, Ruby's father.

However, the brawler then realized something. All this time, whenever she had tried asking either her uncle or father about Ruby's dad, they would refuse to tell her anything, almost like speaking about him was taboo or something. What could have happened that made Ruben Woods a thing that they wouldn't dare talk about?

"So, what happened with him? Where is he?" Yang asked, somewhat dreading the answer. "Did he do something that caused him and Summer to break up?"

Before answering his niece's question, Qrow took his flask and drank what little alcohol was left in it. He then grumbled almost inaudibly how "there's never enough booze when you need it" and put the flask back in his pocket.

"To answer your question regarding his relationship with Summer, he didn't do anything to have them break up. Much like his daughter, Ruben was always too good for his own sake," the unshaven man answered. "Honestly, he couldn't even bring himself to swear. That's how much of a nice guy he was."

"Then where is he? Why hasn't he ever come to see Ruby?" the blonde girl asked, before she realized something. All this time Qrow had been using the past tense while speaking about Ruben. "Uncle… don't tell me that…"

"I'm afraid so, kiddo," the old crow said with a sad look on his face. "Ruben Woods died years ago, before Ruby was born."

Tears fell from Yang's eyes as she thought about Ruby. Even if the brawler herself had essentially lost her mother when she was young, her mother was still alive somewhere. Her father was also alive and had been there through her whole life. However, the poor redhead didn't have either of her parents anymore. Not only had her mother died when she was young, but her father was also dead. Ruby didn't even know what he looked like or what his name was.

"This is so unfair. Ruby never deserved this, so why does she have to go through this?" Yang said while gritting her teeth. "How did it happen? How did Ruby's father die?"

"That's the part that I never wanted to reveal to you or Ruby. Same goes for Tai. However, you and Ruby both have a right to know, even if it will make you see me and your dad differently," Qrow said and took a deep breath. It was time to reveal something he had hoped to bury deep for eternity. "Ruben died on a mission. He went on his own on a job that was too big for him to handle and he was overwhelmed by the Grimm he faced."

"I… I don't understand. How is that supposed to make me see you or my dad any differently?" the blonde girl asked. "And why did he go alone, if the Grimm were too much for him?"

"To answer your second question, it's because something his teammates and we had done. Although, in our case, it's more about what we didn't do," the old crow answered. "If there is one thing that is more important than anything else in the world for a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses, it's trust. Once it's broken, it can never be fully fixed. Ruben's teammates had broken the trust between themselves and their team leader, and we had done that as well to him."

"You… WHAT!?" Yang cried out in shock, unable to believe what she had just heard. "You had broken his trust!? HOW!? Just what did you do to cause that!?"

Before answering, Qrow took a deep breath, readying himself to let out something he had held within for many years.

"Much like Ruby, her father was also a prodigy. One that you only see very rarely. And much like his daughter, he got accepted into Beacon early," the unshaven man began to explain. "Because of this a lot of other students became jealous of him and did everything they could to tear him down. Some started nasty rumors, some simply treated him with passive aggressive behavior and some downright bullied him. Unfortunately, this was something that happened even within his own team. His teammates often spoke badly of him behind his back and did their best to ignore him. Even the members of our team did it to some extent, but our biggest sin was never trying to help or defend him. Instead, we left him on his own. The only one who didn't and was completely unaware of all this was Summer, who became the only person Ruben could trust at all. Once we all graduated, Ruben distanced himself from us and his team as much as he could, hoping to escape everything we had done to him. Unfortunately, because of the damage we had caused him, he could no longer trust anyone, which led to him going solo. I think he was also trying to show us that he did deserve his position and all the praise he received, in order to finally silence those who doubted him. This led to him eventually taking on a job that was too big for him."

Yang's face turned pale upon hearing what had happened to Ruben and she felt sick in her stomach. Her head was spinning as she was trying to make sense of this, which was proving to be difficult. For the blonde girl, the world might as well have been truly flipped upside-down, as everything seemed to crumble around her.

Her uncle and father, her closest and most trusted family members, had been part of the reason as to why Ruby's father was dead.

"Tai and I would often talk about when we should tell you and Ruby the truth. Unfortunately, we are cowards and would always just say that "we will do it later", without specifying what it mean," Qrow said as a tear fell from his eye upon seeing the state Yang was in. "However, both you and Ruby deserve to know the truth about what happened, no matter how much it may cause you to hate us. That is why I decided to tell you the truth."

"…Ruben's teammates," the brawler managed to say, although it was almost inaudible. "What happened to them? Do they know it was their fault that he died?"

"They should know about it, since we told them," the old crow answered. "Whether they regret what they did, I do not know. That was the last time I ever saw any of them."

Yang stood up from the place she was sitting at and took a couple of steps away from her uncle. She was trying her best to make sense of this whole thing, but no matter what she did, she couldn't. The blonde girl knew that what had been done to Ruby's father was inexcusable. There was no way one could just accept it and move on.

"You and Ruby have every right to hate me, Tai and Ruben's teammates for what happened. I am not stupid enough to try and make excuses for what we did," Qrow said as more tears fell from his eyes. "I have done many bad things in my life. Things that I regret and would want to take back, but I know that will never happen. Yet even among all of them, what happened to Ruben is one I regret more than anything."

"What did Summer say about it?" Yang asked while gritting her teeth. "Or did you keep the truth from her as well?"

"We didn't really need to tell her, as Ruben had told her already. We just needed to further explain what we had done and why," the unshaven man answered. "She… didn't take it well. While she never expressed any hatred or anger towards any of us, I think I would have preferred that. In turn for losing her loved one, she became a different person. No longer was she the energetic and spunky leader we knew and loved. She became much quieter and calmer, almost a complete opposite to how she used to be. It broke our hearts to see her like that. Especially when we realized that she was trying to be more like her late husband in his memory. She even began to make Ruben's favorite cookies more often. I think she might have also named Ruby after her father as well."

"So the Summer I knew and grew up with wasn't really Summer?" the brawler asked to which Qrow nodded. "…In the end, I never truly got to know Summer, the woman who was like a mother to me. I only saw what was left of her."

"Yang, if you're thinking that Summer didn't truly love you as her daughter, I can assure you that-" Qrow began to say as he walked up to his niece and tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, only for the blonde girl to slap it away and look at him with angry, tear-filled eyes.

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE!" Yang yelled. "How are you supposed to convince me of what Summer truly felt towards me!? You couldn't even figure out what Ruben was going through thanks to all the crap you and his teammates put him through! HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO CONVINCE ME THAT SUMMER TRULY LOVED ME LIKE A DAUGHTER AFTER WHAT YOU ALL DID TO HER!?"

"…I won't make any excuses for what we did. Nor will I even try to apologize, as what we did was unforgivable," the unshaven man began. "However, if there is one thing I know for certain, it is that Summer truly loved you just as much as she loved Ruby. Even though she was broken over Ruben's death, she knew that holding a grudge towards you would be wrong, as you were innocent. And every time I talked with her, she always referred to both you and Ruby as "her girls" without a hint of lies, only love. Even when she was dying from her injuries from her last mission, she said that her only regret was not getting to see her two daughters grow up."

The brawler stood silent for a moment, before falling to her knees and breaking down into tears. Many emotions were rushing through her at that moment. Relief over knowing that Summer had seen her as a daughter. Anger at the people who were the cause of Ruben's death. Yet mostly she felt sadness. She was sad because of what Ruby, the one person she loved, had been put through. Never knowing who her real father was and losing her mother. Now she would have to face the grief of finding out her father's true fate.

As Yang was crying, Qrow walked up to her and pulled her into a gentle hug. At first, the crying girl's body stiffened from the contact, but she soon relaxed and let her uncle comfort her. The two of them stayed like that for a while, as Yang let out all of her sadness.

After some time had passed, the blonde girl had finally calmed down enough to stop crying. Her face was still messy, but she was doing far better now.

"I… Uncle Qrow, I don't know what to say anymore," Yang managed to say after calming down. "On one hand, I am angry at you and dad for what you did to Ruby's father. But I also can't help but think about all the time we've spent together as a family and care about you both."

"It's okay, firecracker. Take your time with it," Qrow said with a sad smile. "All this time I've been prepared for you and Ruby to hate me for what we did. Just know that I will always care about you, no matter what. I'm sure Tai feels the same way as well."

"Thanks, uncle," the brawler said with a small smile.

"No problem, kid," the unshaven man replied. "Think we should go and tell Ruby as well? She deserves to know."

"I'll go tell her. I need to talk to her anyways," Yang replied. "I don't know how this is going to work out, but not only do I need to confess to her, I also need to tell her about her father."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to do both of them right away? It could be too much for her to handle right away."

"I'm not going to tell both of the things at the same time. I think I'll tell her about her father first and once she has managed to compose herself of the shock she's bound to get into, I might tell her about my feelings. She needs to know that I'll be there to help her through this, and I can't keep stalling this any longer."

"I see. Good luck, kiddo. I'll be in the city, if you need me."

With that, Yang began to head back towards Beacon, hoping to meet Ruby and tell her about what she had just learned as well as to tell her about how she felt about the redheaded girl.

Unfortunately, she was unaware that it would be herself that was in for a shocking revelation, as she was about to learn that she herself had committed the same crimes her father and uncle had back in the day.

* * *

**Author's notes: As you've probably guessed, the whole thing regarding Ruby's father is essentially going to be about how Yang has done the same thing her parents and uncle did. It's going to be a big revelation for her in the next chapter.**

**However, I have some not so good news. I am going on a break from writing fanfiction, as I've noticed that I have lost a good amount of my enthusiasm for it. I'm afraid to say that this isn't due to small issues either.**

**As I've stated before, I have stopped watching RWBY due to the quality of the show dropping greatly. I used to be able to ignore all the problems with and around the series, but I'm just no longer able to do it. This has also led to me pretty much losing my love for the series as well. Thanks to this, I haven't felt like writing my stories on this site all that much.**

**The series itself isn't the only problem, as RT themselves have just had scandals after scandals revealed one after another. This has not helped my feelings towards the show at all. I've pretty much lost all my respect for RT at this point.**

**Coupled with all the other crap I'm going through, I've just lost my spark to write these stories. I'm hoping that me taking a break will help me get back to this. I am still determined to finish this story, but I have honestly even been considering just quitting this hobby altogether, as it's difficult to write fanfiction when you're no longer a fan. Besides this story, there is also one other story that I really want to write, but I fear that I might quit writing my stories here after that. Believe me when I tell you that I am not saying any of this lightly. It's honestly just heartbreaking to say any of this.**

**I want to be clear that I am in no way telling how you should feel about RWBY or RT. This is just how I feel and I felt like it was only fair for me to be honest with you all, as you have supported me and kept me going.**

**Hope you've all enjoyed the story so far and come see the next chapter, once I get back from my break.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Monty Oum.**


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